Mystery on History of Magic
by Selcier
Summary: Binns has decided to take a vacation. Hiei Jaganshi's odd behavior, strange night guests and disturbing habbits cause Harry Potter to start an investigation into the HoM Professor's private life. YuYu Hakusho Harry Potter Crossover
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not hold ownership of Harry Potter or YuYu Hakusho.   
  
Mystery on History of Magic  
  
By: Selcier  
  
"So, who do you think will be the substitute for Binns this year?" Ron's voice broke Harry out of his thoughts on the same subject.  
  
Their group (including himself, Ron and Hermione) was sitting around the Gryffindor house table at breakfast on their first day of their sixth year of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. A pile of eggs lay half eaten on each of their plates as they conversed among themselves about the Headmaster's announcement the previous night. The cool milk and orange juice was untouched due to everyone's late arrival.   
  
The subject had been brought up numerous times from different people, but no one could think of anyone qualified to fill the position. Even though History of Magic had been doubted as 'nap time' since the class was created, Professor Binns seemed to be the only person to fill the position.  
  
"I hope they bring in some interesting person," Dean added to the conversation, leaning over his plate to grab a roll and some butter. "Binns was nice and all, but for goodness sakes, he could teach us anything for the life of him... I mean for the death of him." The effort at humor was met with various glares from the surrounding students. "What! Just tryin` to add a little something!"  
  
"My only concern is that he won't be properly fitted to teach the course," Hermione commented as she glances over at the teacher's table. "They haven't even announced out new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Maybe Dumbledore couldn't find anyone this time and we won't even be having the class!" She groaned loudly as she pulled out a large book from her bag. "I so wanted to ask the new Professor if he would use this book to teach out of, I really didn't understand anything it contained!"  
  
Harry and Ron's mouths both dropped as they stared at the sponge-brained friend. "You didn't understand it?" the asked together, History of magic forgotten as they leaned forward and ogled at the brown haired friend across form them.  
  
"What was in it?" Harry asked hurriedly, snatching the book from her hands and paging through it, looking for something that he might recognize.  
  
"That's what I don't get," Hermione sighed as she fiddled with another book. "I really didn't understand any of it at all! The book itself was easy enough to read, per say, but the content just went right over my head." She looked as though she was going to burst out crying and the two boys were quick to calm her down.  
  
"Well," Ron said hurriedly, grabbing the distraught girls hand and squeezing it gently. "Maybe you were preoccupied when you read it. I can't ever get anything done when someone else is playing`` Wizard's chess in a room with me!"  
  
Hermione shook her head sadly. "I don't think so. It was bright and sunny out, a perfect day for reading on my back porch. I had some classical music played right next to me, Bach, I think it was, and there weren't any gnats or bugs. I was perfect!"   
  
"Well," inquired Harry, going for a different approach, "Where did you get it at? Maybe you can go back sometime and ask the owner about it. That is if the Defense teacher can't help."   
  
He paused for a moment to let his friend and surveyed the teacher's table once again; still no new faces. In fact, there were a few missing since last night. He nudged Ron, just in case he was missing something. "Hey, do you see McGonagall or Sprout?"  
  
The red haired boy shook his head. "No, but I do see Snape, and he's strain` at the doors with that scowl he normally only uses on you. What do you think is going on?"  
  
"...Gave it to me when they came back from... Hey! Are you two even listening?" Both boys' heads swiveled back towards their female companion.  
  
"Oh, sorry Hermione, we just saw that more of the teachers were missing and." Harry's voice trailed off as he blushed under the glare they were both receiving. "Sorry, where did you say you got it?"  
  
"I said that my cousin's gave it to me when they came back from Japan. They said they new I liked, big, old books, so they thought that I'd enjoy it."  
  
"Oh," Ron and Harry murmured together.  
  
"I guess that you'll just have to wait till you meet the Defense teacher before you'll learn anything," implied Ron slowly, looking away from his crest fallen companion's face.  
  
"But cheer up, mate!" He said, trying to improve the atmosphere a bit. "Here come our schedules, maybe we'll be lucky to have History of Magic or Defense as one of our first classes. Then, you can bombard the poor, innocent teacher with your questions until the unfortunate soul should fall over, dead!"  
  
Hermione smiled a bit as one of the seventh years dropped her times table in front of her; she quickly snatched it up and ran her eyes over the blocks.   
  
"So?" asked Ron, him and Harry having not received theirs yet. "There are some classes I know I'm gonna have with you."  
  
"Well," Hermione said pleasantly, obviously happy with something she saw. "We have Defense tomorrow as the first class as the day!"  
  
Ron slapped his forehead. "What about History, Hermione, when do have that?"  
  
She glanced down again as Harry swiped a quick look at the Head table. Still no McGonagall or Sprout. "Oh! We have that first today, but remember what Dumbledore said about classes today? That we'll be missing part of first because of difficulties with the room?"  
  
Both boys shook their heads. "I think we were talking about Quidditch then, Hermione." Ron supplied, twiddling his thumbs under the table.  
  
"You two are hopeless," she sighed, stuffing her books, parchment, and quills back into her bag and standing up. "C'mon guys, lets be the first to see the room before the teacher gets there. Then we can have a proper introduction and I can as who ever it is a few questions that Binns didn't know."  
  
"You had questions that Binns didn't know!" Ron exclaimed as him and Harry hurriedly followed their female friend out of the Great Hall, stopping off at the seventh year and going through the pile, grabbing their times tables.  
  
"Well, they weren't on the Goblin Wars or the Cauldron Recall of 1479," she supplied, taking a right as the two boys hurried to catch up with her.  
  
Harry cracked a smile. "Those did seem to be his favorite subject, beside Hag Rights. What were the questions? Maybe I can use my higher wisdom and supply the answer."  
  
"Oh please, Harry," Ron groaned, "You know less about magical history than I do! You don't have all the answers!"  
  
"Now Ron, what did I tell you about talking to Professor Snape about my academic improvements?"  
  
********  
  
"I hope the school year goes smoothly," said the Headmaster, Dumbledore, before closing the classroom door.  
  
A dark figure leaned back in the soft chair behind his desk sighing heavily. He'd just gotten to the Wizarding school that morning at around 2:55 Japan time, taken an hour nap and been woken up thirty minutes ago before the start of his class.   
  
"Remind me to sleep in tomorrow," he said to no one unparticular as he stood up and lit a few candles, effectively bringing a bit more light to the dark room. It might have been light outside, but none of the suns rays seemed able to make it into the classroom. He glanced at the hourglass on his paper-covered desk. "Great, five minutes until the start of class... Might as well get my ass moving." Walking around the room, he lit every candle and lamp in sight, careful no to drop the match he was holding. The castle might have been magical, but that was no excuse to be clumsy.   
  
"Excuse me..." Came a small and timid voice from outside the strong mahogany doors on the room. "But I wanted to ask you a few questions before the start of class, Professor Binns."  
  
"Hold on a moment," was the reply. Either the girl really wanted to talk to the previous professor, or she was doing asking to if she could come in without seeming too straightforward.  
  
Hopping over a few chairs and desks, he blew the match out and dropped in on a metal ashtray and walked calmly towards the door, stuffing a necklace under his shirt in the process. "Stupid mortals," he mumbled under his breath.  
  
********  
  
"He said he's coming!" Hermione whispered excitedly to the group of Gryffindors outside of the old classroom.  
  
An excited murmur of restlessness spread through the small crowd as the double doors opened and a gruff voice sounded throughout the classroom. "You don't have to stand there, you know, you may come in."  
  
The people in the front of the group leaned in, trying in vain to see the body of the speaker. "Oh come on!" cried Hermione, throwing up her hands and marching into the room and sitting down at a desk in the front row. Harry, Ron, and the rest followed her, sitting down in groups of twos and threes.  
  
Everyone had been expecting the classroom to look noticeably different by the way Dumbledore had spoken, they were immediately disappointed. The room was a mess, books being held on the shelves with only magic, papers haphazardly thrown on a table under the large window, and 'The Goblin Wars' still written on the green chalk board. The only difference might have been that the desk appeared to be covered a different kind of mess, defiantly not organized or Professor Binns type of books. These were fairly new, not millenia old and covered in dusk like the ones on the shelves. An ask tray was on the desk along with several glittering gizmos and a two black cubes the size of an average palm.  
  
"Just take a seat and I'll be with you in a second," 


	2. Rules

Disclaimer: See First Chapter  
  
Mystery on History of Magic  
  
By: Selcier  
  
Harry, and the rest of the class, nervously roamed the classroom with their eyes. Their mysterious teacher had yet to show himself. "Hey, maybe we can't see him!" Ron exclaimed from Harry's left.  
  
"Ron, you know perfectly well that we can see him. Ghosts have always been known to be invisible, but everyone can see those. He's probably just still in his rooms."  
  
"Then how'd he open the doors?"  
  
"Ron, once again I remind you: This is a magic school! You don't need to be standing right there to be doing anything."  
  
"Maybe he's a vampire and he's prepping himself to suck our blood!" Dean whispered from behind them.  
  
"Yeah! Or maybe he'll be a shape shifter and teach us their history..." Seamus trailed off his rant at Hermione's glare. "Or, he could be a forty year old wizard with wisdom and knowledge to teach us everything and anything we'd ever want to know."  
  
"Alright, I'm here... time to settle down." Heads whirled to the front as their new History of Magic teacher picked up a long piece of parchment and began role.   
  
"He is defiantly different," murmured Ron under his breath.  
  
Hermione slowly nodded her head in agreement as the class surveyed their new professor. In all of the students' minds, there was no way the teacher was a day over than seventeen. His shorter stature and younger clothing gave them the impression that he was fresh out of school and the black hair that swept up on top of his head did little to change their opinion. However, he certainly didn't look innocent. His narrow red eyes seemed to glow and his all black attire (black cargo pants, a blood red cloth headband, and a loose long-sleeved black shirt) added to the 'punk' effect.  
  
Several mouths dropped open and were quickly closed at the professor's pointed glare. "Raise your hand when I call your name. I want to put a face with a name," he said, eyes once again sweeping over the class. They landed on Ron for a split second before moving back to the list.  
  
"Brown, Lavender!"  
  
"Here!"  
  
The teacher glanced up again, his eyes finding the girl. He nodded bluntly and returned to the list.   
  
Harry began to fidget. 'What will he say when he reads my name?' He thought.  
  
Finnigan, Seamus!"  
  
"Here!"  
  
"Granger, Hermione!"  
  
"Here, sir!"  
  
"You'll have to ask me those questions after class," he said as he took a fleeting look at the brown haired girl. "I have a few things to explain to the class first."  
  
Judging by the huge smile on Hermione's face, she didn't seem to have a problem.  
  
"Longbottom, Neville!"  
  
"I...I..."  
  
"C'mon, speak up! I won't have half-hearted answers in my class. Now, are you present? Or should I mark you absent?" The professor said, looking straight at Neville. "Professor Sprout informs me that you can be extremely informative her class. I expect no less in mine."  
  
"Here, sir!" Neville said quickly, his voice extremely strong for someone who was picked on the first class.  
  
The teacher smiled a bit as he read off a few more names, each of the answers having the same enthusiasm. Apparently, he'd gotten his point across.  
  
"Potter, Harry!"  
  
"Here!"  
  
"I'll expect more respect than you show in Professor Snape's class," he said simply, dark brown eyes resting on Harry's face. "Is that clear?"  
  
"Yes, sir." Harry's face dropped. The new teacher had been talking to Snape. That probably ruined all chances he'd had of making a good impression.  
  
"Thomas, Dean!"  
  
"Here!"  
  
"And finally, Weasley, Ron!"  
  
"Here!" Ron all but squeaked.  
  
The classroom was silent as the professor stood up from his position leaning on his desk. "It will most likely take me a while to learn your different names, so in the mean time, I will single you out if I want a question answered."  
  
The class nodded.   
  
"You will address me as Professor Jaganshi," he stated bluntly. "Yes, that is a Japanese name. I am not English at all."  
  
The class nodded again.  
  
"First off, as I have already explained to Mr. Longbottom, when you answer a question, you either know the answer or you don't. When you answer, I don't want you to be asking me back. Is that clear."  
  
Everyone nodded.  
  
"Second, I want you to give respect to whoever is in front of the room speak. It might be another teacher, a special speaker, a classmate, or me. There will be no other talking when they are talking.  
  
"Thirdly, no question is a stupid one. Ask if you want to know. I will provide you with the best answer I can."  
  
Two nods.  
  
"I often receive urgent mail which I always attend to immediately. At those times, you are permitted to speak quietly among yourselves."  
  
The nods weren't as synchronized as they had been before.  
  
He smiled a bit. "Now, since this period has been shortened, we won't be starting anything today, but, I will be explaining the course outline." He walked over to the area behind his desk and picked up an eraser from the ledge, black combat boots causing muffled 'clomps.'   
  
"If you'll pull out a clean piece of paper, I want you to write your heading for the first grading period." Professor Jaganshi quickly erased 'The Goblin Wars' and replaced it with 'Laws Regarding the Dark Arts.'  
  
A collected gasp swept around the room and Hermione's hand shot in to the air.  
  
"Yes, Miss. Granger?"  
  
"I'm sorry, Professor, but doesn't this subject fit under the Defense Against the Dark Arts course a bit better?"  
  
"Yes, it does, but your Defense Professor and I have decided to integrate the courses. When we looked over your pervious course outlines, we found that you only spent about a year learning anything of any value. Professor Lupin, to be more exact. We wanted to give you a more rounded look at the Dark Arts and their history."  
  
Neville's hand slowly inched into the air and the Professor quickly called on him. "Are we actually allowed to be taught stuff like that?" His voice was a bit timid, but he was sitting straighter as soon as the teacher's lips curved slightly up.  
  
"Yes, I'm not breaking any rules... just extending them a bit."  
  
Hermione's mouth dropped open again as louder whispers were exchanged throughout the students.   
  
"Wow!" exclaimed Ron happily, "Finally a teacher who understands the simpler things in life!"  
  
"Yes, but..." Hermione started to protest but was cut off by Professor Jaganshi.  
  
"Now, is there anymore questions?" A few heads shook as everyone began to gather their things and talk. "Then, Miss. Granger, I can speak with you now."  
  
Hermione nodded slowly as she quickly gathered her books and stuffed them into her bag, keeping the one she received from her cousins out. "I, umm, received this book from two family members and I was wondering if you could look over it... I couldn't understand a thing!" She handed the large, red book to the professor as she approached the desk he was sitting on the edge of.  
  
He quickly looked at the cover before flipping it open and searching for a specific page. "I'll mark off the pages you need to understand the rest of the book. If you research just the few until you understand them, you shouldn't have a problem when re-reading it." He stopped for a moment and grabbed a quill off his desk. "Do you mind if I mark it?"  
  
Hermione shook her head vigorously and the Professor quickly scribbled a message at the top of the page, turned a few pages over and made another marking under one of the paragraphs. "There you should be good with that, but if you have any other questions, I'd ask the Defense Professor, he reads more than I do."  
  
She started to nod again as Professor Jaganshi stuffed a pile of dusty parchment into her arms. "That, should also keep you occupied for a while."  
  
"C'mon, Herm!" Ron called impatiently from the doorway as the magical 'bell' sounded throughout the castle. "We gotta get movin' or we'll never make it down to Hagid's before the start of next class!"  
  
A red tinge filtered over Hermione's face as started out of the classroom, behind Ron and the other students. "Thank you, Professor," she called back, smiling broadly.  
  
Harry glanced back behind him at the teenage looking teacher before hurrying after his friends. 'Urgent mail, huh, I wonder if he is a new member of the Order?' The black haired youth pushed it to the back of his mind as his conscious told him to butt out of other people's business.  
  
********  
  
"Yes, Professor McGonagall, I understand your concerns, but we have no reason to believe that the two are any trouble! One is an orphan and there is no way to discover his magical lineage and the other is Muggle born. Both have clean records, not counting the few times when Mr. Minamino disappeared and the fact that Mr. Jaganshi technically has never been born..." Dumbledore trailed off and deeply frowned. "Maybe there is reason to fret."  
  
McGonagall threw her hands up in the air and slouched a bit in her chair in front of the Headmaster's desk. "Really, Headmaster, I've never known you to make such a stupid mistake in your life! We know nothing about either of them and you just go and give them the job as though you were handing out some of your lemon drops!"  
  
The silver haired wizard unconsciously pulled the large bowl closer. "Yes, I do feel like I have made an unsatisfactory decision and am fully aware of what the consequences could be for this school, but..." he paused as he collected his thoughts. "But, this was not totally my decision. There are other people that I speak to on the matters of who will be asked to join the teaching staff."  
  
"I do hope your not discussing these things with any Death Eaters, Headmaster, because their influence looks as though it is beginning to affect your decisions!" The deputy Headmistress slapped her hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry, Albus! I had no right to imply that..." She dropped her head, the strained look on her face returning.  
  
"There is no problem Minerva, I'm sure that everyone feels the same way at one time or another."  
  
He sighed at the thick silence inhabiting the room. "If you still feel that the new professors were a mistake, I encourage you to speak with them face to face first. Maybe you're views will change." She nodded solemnly but said nothing, only stood up and walked to the door of the cheery office.   
  
"Oh, and Minerva, I would encourage you to speak with Mr. Minamino first. He seems to be the more sociable type, unlike Mr. Jaganshi."  
  
Professor McGonagall nodded and hastily left the room.  
  
********  
  
Harry watched the head table with fascination during lunch. All of the teachers were peacefully speaking with each other and all were present and accounted for. McGonagall had taught them during Transfiguration (the class they had just come from) and quickly explained the reason for her absence. Nothing too interesting, only picking up the two new teachers at a muggle airport (she had to explain what this was to some of the wizard born students.)  
  
The Boy Who Lived glanced moved down the line of familiar faces before stopping at the seat reserved for the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. The black haired boy wasn't sure if he was disappointed or not. The teacher was certainly old enough. With long white hair that went just past his shoulders, he looked an awful lot like Draco's father. Though, his vibrant green eyes still seemed to hold a child-like brightness. Unlike Professor Jaganshi, the Defense Professor appeared to be a wizard, with sweeping black robes and a dark blue dress shirt underneath.  
  
Professor Minamino, as some Ravenclaws had told them his name was, was talking vigorously with Sprout when Dumbledore stood up and tapped his glass with his spoon, commanding the attention of the room. "I know that not everyone is here with us at the moment, but if you'll please convey the message on to anyone that is not, it would be greatly appreciated." He paused for a moment as he surveyed the Great Hall.   
  
"Some of you have already had the pleasure of meeting our two new professors, but I wanted to make it official. First, we may I introduce Hiei Jaganshi, the new History of Magic professor." The shorter man stood up, nodded curtly to the crowd of teenagers, and quickly sat.  
  
"Also, joining us this year is Shuichi Minamino, helping us fill the place of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Dumbledore spoke. Minamino stood up, a bit slower than the 'teen teacher,' gave a slight bow, and sat, a small smile playing on his lips. "I expect you all to treat them with as much respect as you do the rest of the class." The headmaster sat down to enjoy his meal."  
  
"So, did you figure what was up with that book?" Ron asked, stuffing some bread in his mouth. "Or don't you get it yet."  
  
Hermione shook her head. "I haven't gotten a chance to really look over it." She sighed, "But Professor Jaganshi was so helpful... I hope the Professor Minamino will be just like him!"  
  
"I don't think he likes me very much," complained Harry, head drooping. "He already talked to Snape, that doesn't bode well at all."  
  
"Well, if he bases everything on what the sniveling git says, I say he's got no right to be teaching here!" Ron exclaimed, slapping Harry on the back. "But he seems cool enough. I mean look how he handles everyone. They aren't scared silly into submission like what Snape does to all of us, he told us exactly what he expected and told us we better start acting on it!"  
  
Harry nodded, feeling a bit better about himself and switched the conversation. "Did anybody hear anything about the Defense teacher?" He asked, addressing the whole table.  
  
"Yeah. Some girl from Hufflepuff said he was nice enough, but already piled on the work," Hermione added, sipping at her pumpkin juice. "She seemed a bit perturbed at that... though I'm not sure why. She should be happy that he is teaching something instead of letting them do nothing."  
  
Ron snorted. "C'mon on Hermione! It's the first day back! I don't want any homework and I'm sure most of us feel the same way!"  
  
The girl shook her head lightly. "Well, maybe if you read 'Hogwarts, a History' you might have a deeper sense of how much learning has to offer. They didn't always used to be so lenient before. You should feel lucky."  
  
Ron scoffed. "Yeah... whatever you say..."  
  
The three glanced at their schedules and left the Hall, mumbling goodbye as Hermione headed towards Ancient Runes and Ron and Harry sauntered lazily up to the tower for Divination. They glanced in the Defense room, but moved on when no change in decoration was evident.  
  
"So," Harry made an effort at conversation. "What do you think of the History professor?"  
  
Ron shrugged. "He was alright, I guess. But he kept looking at my hair. It was kinda unnerving, but at least he smiled... a little bit." The red head paused. "Was it just me or did he look like a muggle punk teenager?"  
  
Harry smiled. "No, you're not totally insane. He looked like that to me. Although, I did like the boots."  
  
Ron mocked gasped as they arrived at the trap door. "Harry! What did I tell you about turning back into a muggle? I thought that we'd gotten you over that stage!"  
  
The black haired boy almost snorted as he quickly climbed the latter. "Yeah, uh huh. You just think that."  
  
Both boys plopped down into the comfortable poufs just as Professor Trelawney swept into the room, beads jingling around her neck and wrist. Her colorful robes seeming to flare out even more so than usual. She quickly looked around the classroom and blinked rapidly behind her large red glasses. "It seems as though someone here will unfortunately not finish the school years."  
  
Harry and Ron groaned. Once again, the Professor couldn't even wait a single moment until predicting Harry's death. How typical...  
  
"But, this means that we must hurry and finish your training so this certain person won't miss anything! Please open your books to page three hundred and twenty-six and begin reading the chapter for the rest of the period. Tomorrow we will actually begin. I want you to get a feel for the cards"  
  
Lavender's hand flew up into the air. "Professor! When you said that somebody wouldn't be finishing the year... was it someone in this class?" (Harry moaned again in the background.)  
  
Trelawney smiled gently at one of her favorite students. "It was just a general reading from earlier. The cards didn't specify anyone that I know."  
  
Harry and Ron's eyebrows shot up to their hairlines. "Did you hear that? She said it wasn't anyone she knew! She seems to think that she knows you inside and out... Maybe she really did she something!"  
  
Both boys watched the Divination professor as she helped some of the other students. "Yeah... maybe." Harry replied weakly.  
  
********  
  
Author's note: Yes, I know Hiei seems a but OOC, but that is because (as is explained later) it's been a long time since the Dark Tournament. About seventy years. Shuichi (the red haired human form) won't be in the story for a long time; he'll soon be replaced with Youko Kurama. (I'm just warning you!) But you have to understand; Shuichi is just a body until Kurama can gain his back. Yuusuke will be in the story soon enough too and Yukina and Shizuru will be mentioned (you might see Yukina.)  
  
I should stop now; I don't want to give it all away!  
  
-Selcier  
  
Special thanks to all my reviewers:   
  
Lyn/Lin  
  
Isisrin  
  
SilverKnight7  
  
Thu6666  
  
Darling Chii  
  
Lcampbell947 


	3. Switch

Disclaimer: See the previous chapter.  
  
A/N:  
  
The students think Hiei has BROWN eyes; I have to fix that in the first chap.  
  
Yes, thank you Lyn/Lin and redrayne fallen, I did put that Shuichi had "white" hair and he does. Youko Kurama's is silver. See, (they never really explained it so this is how my fanfiction is going) Kurama's human body will grow old like everyones, but once that body dies, Youko Kurama will gain control because Shuichi and Kurama are two different people sharing the same body. (Notice in the series that when Youko talks about Shuichi. he is talking in third person? He is talking about someone else. Example: "Shuichi was fortunate I could come. He would not have lasted long on his own." -Youko Kurama during his fight with Karasu.)  
  
Does everybody get it? I hope so. Anyways... Special thanks to:  
  
Redrayne fallen: don't think of yourself as being confused... think of everyone else not explaining it right!  
  
Lyn/Lin: (I always seem to have trouble typing that!)  
  
Baka-chan: (love the name)  
  
silverkitsune: wow, a complement on my descriptive skills (it's a first!) Yes, I have also been drawn into the world of yuyu hakusho/harry potter crossovers, along with yugioh/harry potter (and don't forget beyblade/harry potter!) I'm such a hopeless moron! (I'm in HIGH SCHOOL and I watch BEYBLADE! Oh well. And yes, the answer to your ever dream... (*I'll just keep dreaming*) Kurama (as Shuichi) will be entering the story THIS CHAPTER (joy...)  
  
Isisrin: You're welcome (I like it when the stories I read are updated too!) This should be a long story, (cause I just CAN'T write short ones) but I'm not quite sure were I'm going with it. (Please don't kill me! *starts screaming like a girl, which she is but hates to admit it*) I don't know about Hiei hating Harry, he really doesn't like anyone (except for Kurama) 70 might have mellowed him out a bit more, but he still has attitude!   
  
Darling Chii: Thank you for catching my point about Hiei.  
  
Shunsoku: Yes, it is sort of a 'different' kind of plot. But it seems like all of the YYH/HP are the same: the gang goes to Hogwarts. I decided to make mine a lot different. It is hard to imagine him as a teacher, isn't it?  
  
Chibi Emi-Kura-Maro: Hmm... What's your name mean? Yes, I don't like the fifth book either (I don't really remember what happened in the very end) so I'm just taking the key points into consideraton when I wirte this. Eating the students huh... which Harry Potter character don't I like?  
  
Thank you to all my reviewers, it's nice to know your works are appreciated!  
  
I don't like having big authors notes cause I want to know how much I typed, but I like answering your reviews. Remember, I like constructed criticism and questions.   
  
3. Switch  
  
Hiei sighed as Draco Malfoy shot another hex at a fellow student. It had been happening all morning and the fire demon was fed up. He'd already had to send two students down to Madame Pomfrey's because a bad case of boils and another due to the fact that the girl was growing facial hair. The boy was getting out of hand.  
  
The History of Magic professor glanced around the room with the Jagan while he continued to write class notes on the board. Malfoy was snickering in the corner with Crabbe and Goyle and another girl was desperate trying to open her mouth as slugs appeared on her skin; only, her mouth was gone.   
  
"Mr. Malfoy," Hiei said patiently, "If you continue to jinx my students, I will be forced to hand out a few detention slips."  
  
The room quieted immediately and only the sound of chalk on the broad was heard. Hiei turned around and survived the room. Malfoy's face was beet red but he still had an indignant sneer plastered on it.   
  
"If one of you will please escort Mrs. Silget to the medical ward..." The girl in question bolted out of the room with another quickly hurrying after her.  
  
"Now, everyone is dismissed, I can stand you incessant talking anymore." Much to the confusion of the class, the Professor slammed his chalk down on the ledge and exited the room, before anyone else.  
  
Malfoy scowled after his retreating back and leaned back in his chair and surveyed the desk, searching for a way to get revenge. Something to steal maybe_ Mostly everything was so obvious that it would be missed; he'd seen the strange professor toy with some of the gadgets during the class. Though, he hadn't touched the black boxes and Malfoy could easily transfigure something else to look like one...  
  
He stood up and pushed Crabbe and Goyle (the only two left remaining in the room) out the double doors. Quickly rushing over to the desk, his pulled two of his inkpots out of his bag. The blonde grabbed both small boxes off the desk and stuffed them into his bag, remembering the estimated weight in his mind ("Lighter one on the bottom, heavier one on the top.") Pulling out his wand, he transformed the inkpots in to the exact replica of the boxes, no difference to tell on the outside.  
  
********  
  
Harry idly tapped the end of his quill on desk, trying to listen to the lessen the Defense Professor was giving. Normally he would have been hanging off every word the teacher was saying, but he just couldn't concentrate in the least. Hermione was furiously copying down notes and even Ron was scribbling down something every now and then. Everyone else seemed to be engrossed in the lesson, except Harry.  
  
Professor Minamino was talking about all the different kinds of spell, potions, charms, and other procedures outlawed by the Ministry of Magic: The Dark Arts. Every time he'd mention something new, he'd give an example, either a wizard who preformed it or a story about one of the victims: The stories that were never released to the public.  
  
Harry dropped his quill and glanced at the sand timer behind the Professor's desk. This particular class was double periods with the Ravenclaws and there was still twenty minutes left. He sighed again as Minamino launched into an explanation of plants affecting the Dark Arts community.   
  
He closed his eyes, trying to pay attention when the Professor stopped speaking in the middle of a sentence about trees. The black haired youth's eyes fluttered open, looking for the source of the interference. Everyones heads were turned in the direction where Professor Jaganshi stood, his face pale and a large brown box in his hand.  
  
"Minamino... if I could just interrupt your class for a moment..." His mouth opened and closed.  
  
"Of course Hiei, set that in the back room and I'll be there in a moment." Hiei nodded and quickly crossed the room, opened the dark door to the Defense Professor's private chambers, walked in, and closed the door behind him.  
  
Harry absentmindedly wondered if the box was 'urgent mail' as the History teacher said he would sometime receive as the Defense Professor allowed them to talk and excused himself to the back room.  
  
Hermione leaned over to the Boy Who Lived and nudged his arm. "Did you see the seal on the side of that box?" Harry and Ron (who was sitting in front of them with Dean and Seamus) shook their heads. "Well, from what I could see, it was the blue with one section and had a sword on one side stabbing into a land mass, though I don't know which one." Her eyes were abnormally large as she said this.  
  
"That this means..." Ron offered, a questioning look on his face.  
  
Hermione leaned closer. "Wizard's seals are red, not blue and they have four sections, not one!"  
  
Both boys raised an eyebrow. They had no idea where this conversation was going. "So, Hermione, maybe they wanted to be original." Harry said, praying he wouldn't die.  
  
"Yeah, Herm, Harry's right. Do you know whose seal it is?" Ron question.  
  
The brown haired girl sighed and frowned. "That's the point. I've memorized all wizard family seals over the summer as a project, and none of them even come close to that seal!"  
  
"You memorized seals as a project?" Ron's mouth hung open.  
  
"That isn't the point, Ron!" Hermione cried, exasperated. "The point is that: there are no seals that look like the one on the box!"  
  
"But, Herm," Harry questioned, glancing at the closed door, "Maybe it's something else, maybe it's not a seal." The room hushed into silence as breaking glass was heard on the other side of the dark door along with curses, it sounded as if someone dropped a huge bag of marbles on the floor.  
  
Hermione pointedly glared at them as if saying: "See... I told you something was up!"  
  
Ron sighed. "I guess this means we're going to the library tonight, huh."  
  
Hermione shook her head. "No, I've seen all of their book on seals. I looked over them last year when I was bored. But," she smirked uncharacteristically, "There are more seal books in the Restricted Section."  
  
Harry and Ron's eyes grew wide. "Did you just say what I think you said?" Ron choked.  
  
"Well, we'll have to get a pass from one of teachers. Lockhart would be very useful right now... but we'll have to find someone else. Someone easy to manipulate and someone who isn't very perceptive."  
  
Ron perked up. "We got Divination tomorrow. Maybe we could get Trelawney to think we're working' on some extra credit project!"  
  
Hermione grinned as Harry voice his concerns. "How come you want to get into this Herm? You never wanted to do anything like this before... even when it was more important than a simple seal."  
  
Harry..." Ron whined, "Don't jinx it or something... She actually is letting us stretch the rules!"  
  
"No, Ron," Hermione said, making sure they understood her motives. "Normally I wouldn't want to do this, but I think we ought to be more careful since You-Know-Who is back... you can't ever be more careful and if we know something he doesn't or if we figure something out that he doesn't want us too, we'll have an alibi."  
  
Harry nodded. He could understand where she was coming from. It made perfect sense, really; just to be one step ahead.  
  
The dark door slowly creaked open and Professor Minamino stepped out, followed by Professor Jaganshi. Both had stressed looks on their faces and both their faces were paler. Minamino looked as though a bus had hit him, he was is such disarray. "Class," the Defense professor said as Jaganshi leaned against a wall, box gone and clearly not going anywhere, "We'll continue this conversation tomorrow at your next lesson. Since there is only a few minutes left, I'm dismissing you early."  
  
They class of Gryffindors stood up and rushed from the classroom, happy to get a few minutes of free time before the next class. Harry, Ron and Hermione exited a bit slower than the others, snatching a bit of conversation as it started back up between the two new professors.  
  
"Hiei... She'll be fine at Shizuru's. That's all we can do until then. Later we'll ask Yuuske to escort her back to his palace. If he can't... well, maybe you could ask Dumbledore if she could remain here at Hogwarts until a better home is found."  
  
"Just as long as that idiots sister manages to stay alive."  
  
That was last of the conversation Harry, Ron and Hermione heard as they walked out of earshot.  
  
********  
  
The notorious threesome glanced at their schedules once again as they made their way towards their common room in the Gryffindor tower; just to make sure that was the last class of the day. It had been double potions with the Slytherins and it hadn't gone so well. Just the normal: insults were thrown, points were taken, potions were dumped, and Harry failed.  
  
Hermione had been mumbling under her breath the whole day of what kind of seal they were looking for. She drew numerous sketches and gave them each a copy of the finished project to analyze so they'd recognize it if they saw it. Harry and Ron were sick of seeing it and couldn't remember (well, tried not to) why they had agreed to help in the first place.  
  
Thank goodness that they were able to go down to the library tomorrow after lunch. (They had the whole afternoon off thanks to getting the stranger schedules.) The only class after lunch they did have was Astrology, and that was at twelve o'clock at night. That left them the whole afternoon.  
  
They entered the common room to a strange sight. Instead to the normal scene of groups of three or four people talking and playing games, everyone was surrounding one of the seventh years; talking in small voices. The three crossed the room and joined the group, standing a bit off from the back.  
  
"What's going on?" Ron asked after a few moments. They were obviously confused. "What happened?"  
  
The seventh year shoed everyone back so the three could see the small bag he held. It was black velvet and full of light blue gems along with a few shinny black ones. There was another bag full of galleons in his other hand and there were pieces of gold being constantly added to it, while another hand would reach in the velvet bag and grab a single jewel.  
  
"What are those?" Harry asked as he picked one up and rolled it around in his fingers. The surface was totally smooth and the color, one of the black ones, never changed. He smiled as he felt the jewel warm up immediately and he felt the warm course through his body. He grinned as he pulled an extra galleon out of his pocket, dropped it in the collection bag, and headed up to the sixth years boys dorm.   
  
"Harry! What was that about? You just spent all that on some black marble!" Ron said from the doorway as the black haired boy plopped down on the four-poster bed.  
  
"I don't know... I think it's cool... I like it."  
  
Ron snorted as he pounded back down the stair to the common room. He clearly wasn't impressed with the jewel things at all. "Oh well," Harry thought, "His lose."  
  
********  
  
Professor Minamino did a double take as he walked into the Great Hall the next morning. All around him, students were finding different ways to bewitch the blue and black jewels to connect to necklaces, bracelets, and any other types of jewelry they could think of. They seemed to be having great success.  
  
McGonagall was already questioning her house on the location they had found them, with not much luck. All of the students seemed to be walking in a trance. All they would say was: "Got it from some seventh year." then walk away. The other heads of houses appeared to having the same problem, also.  
  
Shuichi hurried up to the head table and found a spot next to his demon friend. Hiei was staring around at the Hall, an indistinguishable look on his pale face. His bewitched brown eyes kept glancing around him and then centering back on one of the jewel holders. Both hands were holding on to the necklace around his neck and he was mumbling incoherent things under his breath.  
  
"Hiei..." Shuichi was afraid to ask the question. "Umm... where did..."  
  
"I don't know." The fire demon's answer was harsh and full of malice. "They should still be in those boxes Koenma gave me... not spread throughout the entire school. When I find out who did this..." Shuichi slapped a hand over his friend's mouth.  
  
"Hiei, don't go do something drastic. No one knows what those are except you and me. You're not going to be found out."  
  
"Hn."  
  
"Now, what's with the effect on the wizard's mind?"  
  
Hiei shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? There are too many black ones out there."  
  
The Defense teacher sighed. "C'mon, you've got to know something!" His voice was strained.  
  
The black haired professor turned to his long time friend. "There's a full moon tonight, isn't there." It was more of a statement then a question. They both knew that this might be the last night they had to worry about... Shuichi's energy was almost gone, while Youko's was higher then normal.  
  
Shuichi nodded but brought the conversation back. "What's going on?"  
  
Hiei shrugged. "It could be anything. The tear gems are only reflecting the emotions in which they were cried during. That why some of the brats look like their going to die, while others look like they won that human lottery thing."  
  
"Oh," was all Professor Minamino could say.  
  
********  
  
A/N: Not much of a cliffhanger... I'm sure you all are all right with that.  
  
I've got a question for you all that I really would like if you would answer in your reviews: Should this have some fluff between Hiei and Kurama? I don't necessarily like it (and I know others don't like it either) but I wouldn't mind putting some fluff in. (It would probably help my plot flow easier too.)  
  
Thanks for reading and please review!  
  
-Selcier 


	4. Demon Breach

Disclaimer: Umm... no imagination at the moment...  
  
Author's note: I've decided not to make this fic yaoi... The scores were tied so I decided to write as though something *may* have happened in the past and the brotherly relationship between the two leads Harry to think something.  
  
The tear gems have always just been worth money in the series, so I decided to make them more interesting and add my own twist to the story.  
  
Since I was derived from a computer when I wrote this, I had to use PAPER! It was horrible...  
  
Special Thanks to:   
  
SilverKnight7  
  
Darling Chii: Yes, you'll find out what's wrong with Yukina in later chapters.  
  
katinstyle: Yes! I got a cake! *SUGAR* Anyways... I looked over the previous chapters and I only saw one point on which Dumbledore mentions the 'new teaching staff.' I'm pretty sure that is the point of which you were referring to. He was talking about Hiei and Kurama. If that isn't the part, maybe you can send the quote to me in an e-mail or a review and I'll clarify what I was talking about.  
  
Shunsoku: Did I mention I love your name? Yeah, the blue tear gems are Yukina's and the black are Hiei's. There is a lot to do with them in later chapters. You're other statement is also right, too.  
  
Lyn/Lin: Wow, I was reading some yugioh/harry potter crossovers and I noticed that you reviewed most of them... get around, don't ya? Oh well, finally some else whose life is this site...  
  
Li: Thanks a lot! I'm updating right now! (Aren't I just amazing! *someone snorts loudly in the background*)  
  
Isisrin: No! I don't want to be haunted!!!!!!!!! AH! Yes, I think Hiei is cute too and I have to agree with you, there are too many of those stories out there... You're reading a perfectly good story, and then all of a sudden, everyone starts kissing each other. Later, though, there will be something related to yaoi... just not in a way that you think (meaning that Hiei's and Kurama's brotherly antics look *too friendly*) Keep e-mailing me and reviewing, I love all the attention!  
  
And now on to the fic!  
  
4. Demon Breach  
  
Shuichi's head dropped heavily on the tabletop. It was past twelve o'clock at night and no clouds had blocked the moon's rays yet...it was and understatement to say that the Defense Professor was exhausted.   
  
The library had long since been closed and everyone gone to bed. He was trying to stop the ongoing change in his body by burying himself in the Restricted section (without anyone's notice) and strike up on his reading. So far, his hair had only developed a silvery sheen and looked normal; not ears were yet visible. Although, he could feel the sharpened canines dig into his bottom lip as he tried to concentrate on the text he was reading.  
  
His goal for the night was to retrieve as much information on the Dark Lord as possible. In fact, that was his mission in full, but he'd need more than a few old crusty books to accomplish it. That Potter kid would probably be useful... but that type of thing was Hiei's suit.  
  
Shuichi scribbled another mote down on this parchment: 'The Dark Lord, He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, has released his secret identity to only a certain few, who, on Pain of Death by Fire shall not speak of it ever again.' He marked his page with a sheet of parchment, decorated with a rose, and proceeded to slam the book shut.  
  
He groaned as he slipped it back on the shelf and gathered his things. Nothing would satisfy his nerves until he was outside and the transformation was complete. However, Shuichi was scared beyond words. He knew that this might be the last time his saw the moonlight if Hiei was correct in his prediction earlier that night.  
  
Sure, Youko Kurama was Shuichi, but his soul wouldn't inhabit his body, it would be the spirit fox's.  
  
He quietly closed the door to the library behind him and started off down the hall, his arms full of parchment. His quarters were just around the corner, if only he could get there; drown another Calming potion and go to sleep.  
  
The demon growled at his thought, the two halves of his soul contradicting each other. His eyesight perked up and he could smell the food still radiating off of the kitchens... there had been duck in the Great Hall that evening...  
  
He stopped suddenly as another sent invaded his senses. It smelled of meat with a touch of smoke...He breathed in again, deeper this time. Hiei's sent was also there, and salt... Kurama shook his head in confusion as his tail swished thought the air and his yellow eyes glowed in the darkness. There was nothing to see, everything was how it should be; even the tin armor in up against the wall was quiet.  
  
He sighed and released the rest of his body to the world. Kurama gently rubbed behind one of his fox ears to regain feeling from the transformation. His white clothes reflected every ray of moonlight and his white shoes tapped on the stone floor as he unceremoniously dropped the pile of notes in front of Shuichi's office door and vaulted out a window.   
  
********  
  
Yusuke groaned heavily as he lightly dropped the pint of alcohol on the oak counter top in front of him. At least, the though it was wood. It was so dark in the bar (it was lit with only candles) that he could have been sitting in front of a coffin made out of bones. The black haired Spirit Detective didn't exactly know what was in his drink either. It tasted all right, but a good smoke was more to the demon's liking.  
  
"You waiting for somebody, kid?" the bartender, Tom, asked him, whipping the counter where another had just left vacant.  
  
"Yeah," Yusuke glanced at his watch, "He'll be here soon."  
  
Tom nodded and left to speak to someone else; the detective's eyes drilling into the retreating back. What was is with English people and always digging into other people's business? The dirty man had already asked him for his Japanese ID, his driver's license (both of which Koenma had so graciously supplied,) and his name incase the bar was sued; only because Yuuske looked like his was in his Junior year of high school.  
  
Thankfully, the 'somebody' he was waiting for was supposed to arrive a few minutes ago at one o'clock in the morning. He pulled out two black boxes from his coat pockets and deposited the on the counter next to his drink. They were the latest addition from Shizuru's lab; specially made for fit Hiei's gem needs. The first set had a seventy percent chance of succession. Apparently, that hadn't been enough to stop the modern magic swirling around Hogwarts.  
  
The teenage looking adult chuckled slightly at Shuichi's note explaining the situation. Seeing his favorite fire demon turn a deathly shade of snow white would have provided everyone years of black mail if the situation hadn't been so serious. He didn't know the exact properties or effects of the tear gems, but it most likely wasn't something Hiei wanted getting out. Maybe he'd ask the new History of Magic Professor when he arrived.  
  
Of which, the said person entered their presence with a cool blast of wind from outside, a swish of black material and the gulping of Yuuske's now gone drink. Hiei whipped his mouth with the back of his hand before stuffing the boxes in the pockets of his cargo pants.  
  
"You're late." Yusuke tried to frown but the look of complete exhaustion on the other's face was too much and he snickered.  
  
"Hn, you'd be late too if you had to run all the way here after subduing a fox while cooped up in a smaller-than-normal office."  
  
Yusuke snickered again as Hiei mentally calculated what he'd just said and cringed. "I mean I had to force Kurama to drink a calming potion while he trashed his office trying to get out the window. The Fox's self-restraint over his Youko had disappeared over the last few months."  
  
The Spirit Detective grinned. "I can't wait to see the look on Kuwabara's face when I tell him..." The happiness was drained from the room as they both realized his mistake.  
  
A few moments of silence passed before Hiei hand the other demon a small package wrapped in comic strips from the newspaper. "This came in the package Yukina sent me. She said Kuwabara didn't have your address written down anywhere, and she didn't want to ask Keiko, so she asked me to give it to you the next time we met."  
  
Yusuke nodded solemnly and took the package, opening it as not to leave Hiei in the dark. He already knew what it was the moment he laid eyes on the rectangular box. The homely wrapping paper was slowly peeled off to expose a mahogany box, intricately carved with the Ice Maiden's past. The crystal tears were already forming in his brown eyes as he pulled out the handle of Kuwabara's spirit sword. The black and light blue leather strips were worn and dulled, but the still coursed with the same power during the human's fights.  
  
He held it a moment before wordlessly setting it back in its tomb and laying the box on the counter. The black haired adult turned back to his partner, a force smile on his face. "What else was there?"  
  
"Not much. Two beakers of Calming potions for Kurama, another vile for me, a ceremonial band for the Jagan, and millions of tear gems." He frowned deeply as his brows furrowed together. "I never want to see so many blue one in one place." His voice sent shivers down Yuuske's spine as it returned to the cold sneer that it had been before the Gate of Betrayal.   
  
Only Tom could be heard talking with someone in the background before Yusuke spoke again, desperately trying to rid the conversation on death. "Was there a letter?"  
  
"Yes, but it was for my eyes only."  
  
The detective couldn't help but grin as he mentally sighed in relief. The sarcastic tone had returned.  
  
Hiei decided to change the subject completely: "Kurama wanted to know if you would give a lecture in his class."  
  
"Well, aren't we just Mr. Delivery Boy tonight?" At the strained silence, he continued. "What did he want me to talk about? I'm not good at this whole 'school' thing; it all gives me one hell of a migraine."  
  
"I don't know... but knowing him a bit too well, I'd say in the normal 'How to Defend Yourself When You're in this Deadly Position.' bull shit. It's not like you can just start spouting off your life's work."  
  
"And what's wrong with my life's work?" Yusuke pretended to look hurt.  
  
"Nothing. Although, I'm sure the other professors won't pretend to entertain the idea that a demon in currently teaching the brats."  
  
"And what do you think you are? Or do you now hold the title of twenty-two year old human wizard?" Hiei visibly blanched at the accusation as Yusuke chuckled good-naturedly.  
  
"Sure, I'll do it. Tell Kurama I'll be there sometime after next week. I'll have to talk to Pacifier Breath before coming... something he told me about something... I don't remember."  
  
Hiei nodded curtly and stood up, stretching his limbs. "It took me five hours to get here, and there's some idiotic staff meeting in six hours. I want a spar when you get to the castle." With another swish and a blast of cool air, Yusuke was alone.  
  
"Darn," he hit the counter lightly with a clenched fist. "Forget to ask him about those gems!"  
  
********  
  
Harry leaned up against the back of the portrait hole, breathing deeply and trying to stop his heart from beating so hard in his chest. Because the strange 'happy' spell, he'd decided to get something special from the kitchens in celebration. Only, on the way back, he'd run in to someone unexpected.  
  
At first he thought it was Professor Minamino out for some deranged late night stroll, but as soon as he stepped into the moonlight; it was obvious that it wasn't the same person. This Minamino was taller, leaner and covered (from what Harry could see) in sleek muscles. His golden eyes were bright and cold; the spell the black haired boy had conjured to hide his whereabouts (he'd bewitched himself to look like a suit of armor) seemed to shatter under the unblinking gaze. Although, the most unsettling things had to be the ears that twitched on the figure's head and the silvery tail that swished behind him.  
  
The happy feeling was long since gone; replaced with a panic he'd never felt before. Something was roaming the corridors of Hogwarts... Even if he were to speak with the Headmaster, he'd have to do it now to have the conversation mean anything. But what would he say? "Oh, yes Headmaster, I was out wondering the halls at twelve and saw this thing." That certainly wouldn't go over well. But if he were to wait till tomorrow, everyone might be murdered in their sleep.  
  
The Boy-Who-Lived stood silently for a moment before rushing up to the girl's dorm, dropping a bag of sweets on a chair while passing. Remembering a previous incident with the dorm, he decided to catch the brown haired girl's attention by knocking loudly while calling her name. A few attempted punchs later from the other roommates and many curses, the two were stationed in the common room in front of a roaring fire.   
  
"What do you want, Harry," Hermione groaned, rubbing her eyes and slouching in the comfortable chair.  
  
"Well, you'll probably be mad at me." He tried going for the motherly/shy effect. He'd be shy; she'd tell him that she wouldn't get mad... it might loosen the punishment a bit.  
  
"I won't be mad, I'm just grouchy."  
  
Score. "Well, I was feeling really happy and I thought I'd go get something to eat from the kitchens."  
  
At her disapproving glare, he stopped talking until she motioned him to continue. "On the way back up, I heard someone walking, so I bewitched myself to looking like a suit of armor. I though it was just a teacher until I saw it in the light."  
  
"Who was it?"  
  
"I don't know." He paused, "And I don't think it was a 'who' either. I don't know what it was. The thing had ears like a wolf on the top of its head, a silver tail, long silver hair, and golden eyes. That's why I thought it was a teacher, Professor Minamino to be exact. The silver hair looks pretty close to his."  
  
Hermione's eyes narrowed and she scanned her brain for any useful information. "Doesn't sound like something the school would want wandering around the hallways… We should tell someone. Dumbledore, then you won't get in as much trouble and he can alert the Order." When she finally spoke, her voice sound tense.  
  
Harry nodded. "I needed another opinion. Come with me?" She nodded and they slipped out of the common room and head towards the Headmaster's office.  
  
********  
  
Hiei entered the castle through a window in his office on the fifth floor as soon as he noticed all of the activity on the bottom floors. Professors were scurrying around with their wands out looking pale and paranoid. He quickly slipped the boxes out of his pockets and dropped them on his bed, exiting the room and quickly walking towards the closest energy signal, in this case, Professor Flitwick.  
  
The Professor was hurriedly casting charms on everything in sight as he mumble incoherently under his breath. He jumped at least two feet when Hiei cleared his throat and redirected the tiny wizard's attention. "What's going on?"  
  
"Oh my! It's horrible! A figure resembling a demon has been spotted! We're trying to... to..." He dialogue turned into a stumbling mess and Hiei left him to his work, deathly worried about Kurama.  
  
On his way to the Headmaster's office, he ran into the Transfiguration Professor, McGonagall. "Oh, Jaganshi. I was just sent to get you by the Headmaster. He is requesting your presence in the Great Hall." Her lips were set in a thin line and her face was tighter than normal. She was shaking a bit as she hurried around the confused demon and down the hall.  
  
Thankfully, the rest of the way, Hiei ran into no more interruptions and he was able to enter the Hall without having killed anyone, although he looked even more disheveled than ever. His hair was a bit limper than normal his Jagan was dropping under his band. The black muscle shirt he was wearing was wet with rain (which had started up just after he left the Leaky Cauldron) and his khaki cargo pants were hanging loose around his waist from so much running. He groaned as he realized the bandaging around his arm was coming undone; the chains were still securely in place, but the material was wet and soggy.  
  
"Oh, there you are, Professor. Please, Have a seat." The Headmaster's eyes were tired and he was slumped a bit in his chair. "We've been looking for you for four hours." His statement was straight to the point.  
  
Hiei grimaced mentally. "I was speaking with a pervious companion about important business."  
  
"Ah, I see. But it you could in the future, please inform someone when you'll be absent from the castle. We were quiet worried. You see, this morning at twelve thirty one, I received a report of something abnormal wondering the hallways."  
  
"Flitwick has already informed me. Any idea of what this 'something' is?"  
  
Dumbledore smiled a bit more. "No, but the only creature that falls under such a description is a demon. At the moment, the staff is putting up wards around the castle to repel a demon if it trys to enter. Others, still, are scouring the school for any track of the said 'demon.'"  
  
Hiei frowned before nodding. "I'll inform you if I see anything. But, what am I searching for?"  
  
"The student described it as a tall, silver-haired man with muscles, fox ears, and a tail. You should know it when you see it, I believe."  
  
********  
  
Author's note: Yes, I know that was a horrible place to stop, but it is 12:23 at night and I just typed ALL of this at one time, my mind is dead.  
  
Please review and I'll get another chapter out soon! 


	5. Searching for Shadows

Disclaimer: I spend on buying as many YuYu Hakusho tapes as possible with my remaining money... maybe if I buy enough, they'll *give* me the show!  
  
Author's note: I hope the previous chapter wasn't that confusing but I'll clear up some of the things you asked. I was inspired to write the very next day so this chapter should be updated pretty soon!  
  
Shunsoku: Yes, Yusuke (oh, Amun Ra! I've been spelling his name wrong the entire time! Thank you for inadvertently telling me!) Will be playing a big role in the story even though it does seem to center around Hiei. Like you, I'm not a big fan of Kuwabara's but I do think he adds a lot of the comical relief (along with Hiei and Yusuke's rude remarks) I was wondering, what do you think happened to Kuwabara (I want to see if I've made it too obvious) You're welcome!  
  
kainstyle2: Wow! I got a long review, *more* cake, and a cookie! I have got to be the luckiest person alive! Anyways, it was Malfoy who sold the gems to some of the seventh years (who in turn sold them to their houses) and the teachers did put wards around the school, but they were still on the bottom levels, that's why Hiei came in an upper window. Also, Kurama came in an upper level too, a few hours before Hiei. As for Yusuke (am I the only one who spells his name wrong?) maybe you haven't seen the spoilers, but he is also half demon. (I can send you pictures if you like) In my story, Yusuke's human body has already 'died' thus leaving his demon side total control. It'll make more sense later on. It's the same with Hiei since he is a full demon (also like Youko Kurama and Yukina)  
  
Darling Chii: I like that statement: "Everyone needs to calm down; I mean, it's just Youko :P" Do you mind if I save it to a little (more like huge) list of quotes I keep and put it on my bio? Don't worry; everyone will know you said it. ^-^  
  
SilverKnight7: You'll just have to see...  
  
Special thanks to:   
  
nannon  
  
Spica P.I.  
  
4. Searching for Shadows  
  
Harry yawned as he sat up in his sleeping bag and chanced a glance at the Defense professor lounging in his chair. Ever since the demon sighting had been reported the night before, all of the students were assigned rooms to sleep in guarded by a teacher. All of the Gryffindor boys had been sent to the Defense room and were given maroon blankets and sleeping bags to use.   
  
Where everyone else was sleeping had been kept a secret in case the demon was looking for a particular person. (Everyone immediately assumed the demon had been hired by Voldermort and was on a search and destroy mission. Looking for Harry Potter, oh course.) Classes had been canceled the day before and the students were told to remain in their common rooms until summoned.  
  
Food was sent up three times before Harry and Ron (Hermione had left with the other Gryffindor girls a bit after lunch) were told to report to the Defense room. They were escorted down by an extremely tense Professor McGonagall and were ushered quickly in by Dumbledore. He had said that Professor Minamino would be arriving shortly and then proceeded to explain the new set of rules.  
  
It was almost as if they were re-living their third year. No one was to go anywhere without the companionship of a teacher. They were to obey their new 'homeroom' professor under every condition and punishments would be doubled until further notice.  
  
Professor Minamino hadn't even arrived until the end of the briefing, looking worn and exhausted. His white hair was wind swept and his black robes wet form the continuing rain. Dumbledore had whispered something in his ear before leaving the room, a grim look on the normally cheery Headmaster's face. The rest of the evening had been spend playing a few games that Minamino taught them, the telling of a few more Dark Art stories, and the calming of some of the more skittish First Years.  
  
The Defense Professor shifted in his chair and opened his bright green eyes. They traveled around the room until they landed on Harry's face. "Hungry?"  
  
The Boy-Who-Lived nodded vigorously as he followed Minamino over to his cluttered desk and sat down in a chair. A few minutes later, they were both munching quietly on some Power Bars while the other boys still slept.  
  
"It was you who saw the demon last night, wasn't it?" Those green eyes were penetrating and Harry felt himself chewing slower as someone snorted in their sleep.  
  
"Yeah. I know I shouldn't have been wandering the halls, but its a bad habit of mine and I was feeling ridiculously happy. I just went down to the kitchens to get something to eat."  
  
"Happy, how come?" The professor was interested now. Hadn't Hiei said something about his gems fusing emotions into that of the holder? Was it a jewel that the Potter kid possessed?  
  
"I dunno, ever since I got one of those gem things from the seventh year I've been so happy."  
  
"Do you mind if I take a look at the jewel? I've noticed that more than half the population of the school has them. The blue is exceptionally beautiful." In truth, Shuichi thought that the deep and intimidating black ones that Hiei could produce was exceptionally rare, but no need to give Harry ideas...  
  
Harry nodded and slipped the jewel from around his neck where he'd connected it (using magic) to a piece of burlap. "Sure," he said, handing it over the desk, "I don't feel that happiness anymore. It all went away as soon as I saw the demon's eyes."  
  
The Professor stared at the black tear gem in his palm before handing it back to the boy. "The effect must only work once, or maybe I can't access the power somehow... I'll have to arrange a meeting with Hiei," Shuichi was deep in thought as Harry put the gem back around his neck.  
  
"Umm, Professor," Harry asked, changing the subject, "Do you know what will be going on today?"  
  
"No, not really. Everywhere you go I need to go to and vice versa. That means you'll have to come with me when I speak with the other professors. That probably means that there will be a large meeting later during the day." He stopped thinking out loud and glanced out the window. "Are you sure you don't want to get more rest, Mr. Potter, it will most likely be a very uneventful day."  
  
"No, I'll be alright."  
  
Minamino nodded as he stood up. "Need to fetch something out of my office, I'll return in a moment."  
  
Harry wasn't exactly sure why the Professor was telling him this, but it was probably more polite then just getting up and walking away. "Kay," was the reply.  
  
However, Harry couldn't resist snatching a peek at the inside of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher's office. Every year they had a new one and every year the office/living quarters were on opposite ends of the spectrum. One, Harry hadn't seen at all, one was covered in pictures of the occupant, another was relatively normal looking except for the broken furniture in some areas, and the other was full of different types of spy equipment. He didn't even want to know what Umbridges looked like, that would be wrong!  
  
Professor Minamino's office was also not what the black haired boy expected either. He couldn't see much because the professor had mostly closed the door behind him, but from the angle Harry was sitting on, he could see the better percent of the room. There were plants everywhere. Hanging for the ceiling, crawling up the walls, winding around furniture: the room was a built-in-jungle. The objects that weren't covered in plants, were covered in papers and books, huge piles loomed from the bed, table, and chairs. There were two large windows, one obviously bewitched to have a large window seat. That had to be the cleanest part of the room, only covered in a small black blanket and plump pillow. Also, Harry could barely make out a large trunk along the opposite wall, he never got a chance to inspect it, though, because the Professor had found what he was looking for and had exited the room, fully closing the door behind him.  
  
"Ah, yes... Ron... I'm sorry, did I wake you?" He scribbled something quickly down on a piece of parchment, said something under his breath and it disappeared with a small 'pop.'  
  
Harry smiled at his best friend as the red head collapsed into another chair. "No, I woke up to Harry's annoying voice." Harry tried a mock pout but Ron only grinned.  
  
"Well, it's nice to see that kids today still have friends."  
  
Ron raised an eyebrow. "What, didn't they have good friend in 'those days?'"  
  
"Well yes, I had many friends, but I've noticed some of the other kids didn't seem to have any. Bullies always seeming to get in the way or something."  
  
"What magic school did you go to?" Ron asked, leaning forward a bit in his seat. None of the other teachers talked about their lives as kids!  
  
"I didn't go to a magic school. I went to a public school in Japan. I never had a problem with bullies, but it's amazing how many problems others had, now and then."  
  
Ron and Harry's mouths were gapping... the teacher hadn't been schooled! Did the Headmaster know this?  
  
At their looks, Shuichi continued. "I was trained by another wizard in the ways of magic... if that makes you feel any better."  
  
Ron and Harry nodded slowly as they soaked in the information... Harry ventured a question: "So, ah... where did Professor Jaganshi go... that is, if you know."  
  
"I don't have permission to disclose that information to you. Ask him yourself if you like, I've arranged for him to join us in about two hours. He'll be bringing his group with him, though. I'm sorry to inform you that he has been place in charge of the male Slytherins... I know the two houses don't get along much..."  
  
Harry and Ron groaned. "I feel sorry for the chap. having to deal with those bast-" Minamino loudly cleared his throat at Ron's statement. "Oh, sorry... But still, how come Snape ain't in charge of that group? It is his house after all."  
  
"Yes, but Professor Snape had other business to attend to, so I'm told, and Professor Jaganshi is filling his place. They should be alright."  
  
"I'm not worried about the Slytherins, I'm worried about the Professor! Do know what that house is?" Ron exclaimed, waking most of the other boys.  
  
"What's goin' on?" Dean asked, sitting up and scratching the back of his neck.   
  
"The Slytherins have decided to join us for afternoon tea," growled Ron.  
  
A collective groan swept around the room as every boy imagined the horror of the situation. A "We're all going to die!" was heard from the area Neville was sitting in.   
  
"Why do we have to be with the Slytherins all day... why couldn't it have been the Hufflepuff girls? They're so easy to manipulate and control..." There was a slap and muffled "shut up you moron?"  
  
"Boys, Slytherin isn't that bad..." at the disbelieving glares, Minamino sighed and gave up.  
  
"At least it's not Snape," one boy commented, obviously hearing the part of the previous conversation in the room, "I heard Jaganshi doesn't like Malfoy at all."  
  
Another round of murmurs swept the room at the new information. Harry was in shock. He thought the History teacher hated him because the two (Snape and Jaganshi) had been speaking to eachother and Jaganshi had gained the Potions teacher's views. Apparently, this was not the case as seeing the History teacher didn't like Malfoy.  
  
Another small 'popping' noise was heard cutting the conversation of rumors (the group was beginning to sound a lot like Shizuru and Keiko when they got together, Shuichi noted) stopped as the Professor quickly snatched the note out of the air and read over it quickly. "It seems as though our guests will also be spending breakfast with us, also. They'll be here in thirty minutes."  
  
********  
  
Tonks tried to keep optimistic as she walked towards the small, run-down house in Japan. The site still seemed to possess that greenish glow that normally accompanied a crime scene in which the Dark Mark was sent up. The small white fence, she notice, was barely standing up as she opened the gate and nearly tripped over a shinny black bicycle laying on its side. To one side of the divided front lawn, there was a small garden full of different types of vegetables and to the other side, a small training contraption, meant to train all aspects of the body at one time. Or so Moody had told her.  
  
She knocked on the door, hoping someone would answer before she lost her cool. She hated doing these visits. Telling the deceased persons family that their loved one was killed by a wizards was hard enought. However, then being yelled at by some angry person because the 'government makes up everything to get away scot free,' had to take the cake. Well, that excuse certainly wasn't the case, but it helped with the family's grieving, most of the time.  
  
The door was opened a crack and the Auror came face to face with a young man with long black hair, a little past his shoulder blades, and deep, penetrating brown eyes. "Yes, can I help you?" was all he said.  
  
"Yes, is Mrs. Kuwabara or Mrs. Urameshi in? It's about Kuwabara Kazuma..." She trailed off at the look of sorrow on the boy's face.  
  
"Sorry, both of them are at a friends house, but you can come in. I'm just getting the rest of the stuff cleaned up." He opened the door all the way and motioned for her to enter.  
  
The house was small, holding only a small kitchen, a living room, a bathroom, and a bedroom. Currently, the kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom doors were open and Tonks could easily see that they were devoid of everything not nailed to the floor. The living room was relatively clean, save the spots of blood dotting the carpeting and the pile of papers on a small table.  
  
Remembering Japanese culture, Tonks slipped off her shoes and sat down in front of the table, her legs folded underneath her body.  
  
"I'd offer you some tea, but there isn't a scrape of food in the house," the boy sat down across from her and moved the pile of papers from the table.  
  
"That's quite alright Mr..."  
  
"Yusuke, please call me Yusuke."  
  
"Tonks, if you please." There wasn't a large need for pleasantries here.  
  
Tonks remembered something about suffixes at the end of Japanese names, but she didn't know any. She was thankful the boy, now know as Yusuke, spoke English. She didn't necessarily want to perform a language charm at the moment... "Are you in some relation to the Kuwabara family, Yusuke?" She asked.  
  
He nodded. "Good friend of the family."  
  
"I'm sorry to bother you, but I need to discuss the circumstances of Mr. Kazuma's death with you." Good, she'd gotten past the hardest part: saying the first words.  
  
Yusuke nonchalantly waved his hand through air. "I know the circumstances. I am perfectly aware of the wizarding community, Tonks. I know what's going on."  
  
The Auror's brows drew together a bit in confusion. "I'm sorry to pry, but if you are so vested with this knowledge, is there a reason you are not attending a Wizarding school... or is that you are a muggle with family in the Community."  
  
"No, I do not attend a Wizarding school at the moment and never will in the future. But also, no, I am not a muggle. Please do not label me as one." The youth's voice was colder, his tone icy in it's origin.  
  
"Excuse me then." Tonks was hoping to keep a working conversation. "I must ask you then, if you know of any reason why Mr. Kuwabara was singled out?"  
  
Yusuke shook his head. "He had some special abilities, but nothing too extravagant. If it were a grudge someone held, it would have been settled years ago when he was in his prime. There is no honor of killing someone when they cannot defend themselves." He added a mental thought "No, if this person wanted something extra special, his aim would be somewhere else."  
  
Tonks eyebrows rose. "And do you have any idea of what these 'special abilities' might be?"  
  
He smiled a bit sending chills down the Auror's spine. "It could be one of many things relating to the families surrounding Kuwabara's. Special to them, powerful to others."  
  
Tonks mentally gulped. "You seem to know them well, but you aren't one of the conntacts that would be imediatly conntacted if anything were to happen to him."  
  
"I've known Kuwabara since we were in high school together."   
  
They both stood up, gave their sorrowful goodbyes, and Yusuke escorted her to the door. It was only until Tonks had disapperated back to the Order that she realized what the teenager had said. 'Since we were in high school together.' She'd seen the pictures of Kuwabara Kazuma; she'd seen his muggle files. He was over ninety years old! That boy couldn't have been more than sixteen... 'In high school together.' It was impossible...  
  
********  
  
The Gryffindor/Slytherin breakfast meeting was going better than planed, thanks to an occasional glare from the professors and a few threats to chucks of house points. So far, they'd eaten, had a Wizard's Chess Tournament (which Ron won and Draco claimed it was because he hadn't bothered to play,) and had a few quick lessons in History and Defense, both of which weren't that horrible.  
  
Although, lunch had still yet to roll around and the atmoshpere in the cramped classroom was getting any thiner. The talking had died down, and the insults were reaching an all time high. The only connects between houses that were still on friendly terms were that of the teachers themselves.  
  
"What's with the sour look?" Hiei asked, his voice monotone.  
  
"Oh, it's just the eggs they were eating earlier... My stomach didn't like the look of them."  
  
Hiei smirked and leaned closer so he whisper in the Youko's ear. "Had something to eat the other night that didn't go down to well?"  
  
Shuichi's cheeks reddened a bit. "Well, I was near the kitchens when I landed outside and I saw a coop filled with chickens and ducks... and earlier I hadn't eaten at all so I was a bit hungry..." The embarrassed teacher trailed off and Hiei snickered lightly and leaned back over.  
  
"Too many feathers for you liking, fox."  
  
Shuichi pushed him back. "There weren't any feathers," he said a bit louder than needed. He quieted down. "But it's not like I cooked anything... it was raw."  
  
Hiei quickly swallowed his laughter. "Think of it this way, Fox, all I had was a Suicide at the Leaky Cauldron, and that was only because Urimeshi didn't want it."  
  
Harry glanced over at the two professor. Did he just hear that Hiei was at the Leaky Cauldron two nights ago? But that was when he saw the demon... he thought for sure that he'd seen the History Professor helping the other professors. He leaned a bit closer, his nosey side taking over. Maybe he could catch more of the conversation.  
  
"I take it that you got everything from Yusuke," Shuichi asked, the light, carefree tone back.  
  
"Hn."  
  
"Did he say what the Ministry was doing?"  
  
"The damn Misertry hasn't done bull yet." Harry had to strain his ears over the many obscenities flying across the room. "They sent an Auror over to the house today. I made sure Yukina or Keiko wasn't there. No need to confuse them."  
  
"There both staying with Shizuru, are they not. What happens if..." The older Professor trailed off and dropped his head shamefully.  
  
"Before I left, I put up various wards. Only pure hearted beings may enter."  
  
"But Hiei, that means that you..." Harry didn't here the end of the sentence because Ron was whispering urgently in his ear.  
  
"Harry! Take a look at what Malfoy's got!"  
  
The black haired boy looked where Ron was pointing to. Draco Malfoy was leaning over a long piece of black parchment, a black owl perched on his shoulder. His face was deathly pale and he was clenching his fists so tight that blood was coming slowly out of his palms.  
  
As everyone quieted down and watched the Slytherin with curiosity, Harry semi-consciously registered the scraping of chairs in the direction of the teachers. In flash, the History Professor was standing the distraught boy up and leading him to Minamino's office. The Defense teacher sat back down in his chair, a large frown on his normally pleasant features.  
  
"I know what that was," Neville croaked quietly from the back of the room. "My grandma got one like it when my parents died. Except ours was gray."  
  
********  
  
Yes! I have created a cliff hanger! Sorry, anyway... I got his chapter out in two days, so you'd better he grateful and send me nice long reviews filled with questions that I can answer!  
  
-Selcier 


	6. I Was There

INTERESTING authors note: I'm sorry, but me and my other anime-crazed friend thought this was funny so I decided to tell all of you: I was at her house and I was playing the Simms game on her GameCube. Well, I couldn't think of a last name for my person so I decided on Jaganshi (I'm sure most of you other girls understand perfectly.) Anyways, I used Selcier for my girl's first name but I couldn't think of anything (again) for my guy's name. Finally, the name 'Kurama' was remembered and I typed it in. Lucky she saw this and I quote: "Uh, Kate, that's just wrong." I realized my mistake and changed it. (If you don't' understand, the name would have been Kurama Jaganshi. You cold take that two ways: 1. Hiei had a son and decided to name him Kurama or 2. We won't get into that.)   
  
Sorry if you didn't think that was funny, I have a bit of a sick mind.  
  
IMPORTANT: This fanfiction does not follow the story line at the end of the last saga on YYH. There are many things that aren't the same at all. I would mention them because I don't want to spoil the show for anyone.  
  
Spica P.I.: I'm just wondering, does your name stand for anything, I like it! The whole 'Malfoy' thing is mostly answered in this chapter. Tonks doesn't think of 'demon' per-say since the Wizarding community doesn't know much in general, but she does remember something else. (*hint:FirstBook*) About Dumbledore, you already seem to know the answer to that but it will most likely be in a way you'd never expect.  
  
Shunsoku: It is weird, isn't it? But the black letter isn't a Howler; again this chapter explains most of it (I don't like to leave you guys hanging so that you don't understand the story!) I'm not sure about the 'Kuwabara coming back' thing, although that might give more ideas in the future.  
  
SilverKnight7: The difference, I'll e-mail it to you okay?  
  
Lyn/Lin: Yes, I LOVE Yugioh (I'm in high school so its probably too young for me but I don't care at all) Do you like Marik/Malik because I finally found an awesome link to pictures of them. I also love yugioh/harry potter xovers but most of them are all the same. Yusuke's reason for being at the Leaky Cauldron will be reveled later so I can't tell you! About the Kurama problem, I'm still working on it. What Malfoy got is talked about a lot in this chapter. Yaoi: I've decided not to do that because I'm sometimes disturbed by it and I know someone who is gay and I don't want make assumptions. Although, for all you yaoi lovers out there, there might be some reference to something that happened in Hiei's and Kurama's past. (Just to confuse Harry and set him on the wrong track ^-^) Plus, I'll be updating pretty regularly, I hope, and you should check back every four days or so.  
  
Special thanks to:  
  
Darling Chii  
  
FluffyBijin05  
  
I dunno... It's a semi-flame but it boosts my reviews!  
  
Disclaimer: I used paper again... Oh, sorry *clears throat* I am the proud owner of YuYu Hakusho and Harry Potter. Now where did that pencil go... oh, duh, I need to remember things... what was I saying about a disclaimer? Oh, yes, I don't own anything!  
  
5. I Was There  
  
Hiei pulled up a chair from a corner and practically pushed Draco down on it. The boy's face had a looked of fury more than sadness and the fire demon could practically hear Draco's teeth as they were grinding against one another. He had the fleeting thought of yelling at the Slytherin for being so stuck up and self-centered, but he decided that it wasn't the time... After all, he was trying to remain as civil as possible.  
  
Instead, he opted for grabbing the black parchment out of the boy's limp fingers and slamming it face down on a small table occupying the room. With the speed and accuracy of someone who had done the same thing much too often, the History Professor snapped a small twig off one of the plants and dribbled a strange gooey substance onto Draco's palm. He then quickly wrapped the bleeding hand in a roll of medical tape and held the cloth together with a metal clasp.  
  
Draco nodded his thanks, not making eye contact, and shoved the offending limb into the folds of his robes.  
  
"I don't know any healing spells, so I'll have Professor Minamino escort you to Madame Pomfrey's as soon as I'm finished speaking with you." The tone wasn't meant to be spiteful, but it didn't come out as a cheerful goodwill. When Draco only snorted in reply, Hiei snarled. "Malfoy! You'll look at be when I'm talking to you."  
  
The young wizard raised his gaze and immediately wished he was speaking with any other teacher besides this one... excluding Dumbledore. He'd never seen anyone's eyes smolder like that, even the Potions Master. If he were a lesser wizard, he would have gulped. Instead he decided to panic mentally and kept his face impassive. Although it seemed as though his heart were beating a bit too loud to be normal.  
  
The Professor was the first to speak again. "Is there a reason you don't seem to care about what that letter says, or are you trying not to explode?"  
  
Draco had to answer even though his better judgment was against the idea. "It doesn't matter to me... I'm not losing a father, I'm losing a business associate."  
  
"I know that's not true. I know what response is when you get in trouble or find yourself in a tight spot. 'Do you know who I am?' 'Wait till my Father finds out about this.' You sound exactly like him."  
  
The blonde's head shot up from his hanging position. "What! You've met him!"  
  
"No, but I was present at his trial. The first one."  
  
"Then you'd know that I'm not anything like him!" The wizard bolted up from his chair only to be pushed back down again. "He's not my father!"  
  
"Don't you ever say that again," hissed Hiei, glaring down at the blond form his standing position. "He is father weather you like it or not. Its better to have had one then never at all!"  
  
Draco stopped struggling and collapsed limply into his chair. "Maybe..." He whispered.  
  
"Not 'maybe!' Yes! Get it through your head. Would you rather end up like Longbottom and be raised by your grandmother? Or maybe you'd prefer Potter and his Uncle and Aunt?"  
  
A sneer filtered through the wizard's features. "I'd do anything not to be that son-of-a-bitch!"  
  
"Malfoy, you're straying off the point." He grabbed the letter off the table and stuck it into the boy's face. "He's your Father, weather it suits your interests or not. This proves it! Am I clear?"  
  
Draco sneered again but nodded anyways, keeping his eyes down. The room seemed to release some of the tension as the Professor pulled up another chair and sat down opposite the blond. A few minutes of silence drenched the room until Hiei spoke, his voice much calmer.  
  
"Look, I know I'm not your Head of House, but this is too important to wait until Snape returns." He paused as Draco nodded slowly. "Its obvious to me that you don't trust anyone at all, so were going to have a bit of a counseling meeting." Draco snorted as Hiei mentally abused himself for becoming such a softy. "Normally I wouldn't be caught dead doing anything remotely related to this, but since there are no counselors here, the Headmaster is too annoyingly cheery, half the teachers are to stiff to offer good wisdom, others don't care in the least, and Flitwick couldn't form an understandable sentence if his life depended on it, so I've decided to make an exception."  
  
At Draco's small smile, Hiei continued. "Just remember that nothing that is said leaves this room... in fact, how about this meeting never happened." A nod and he resumed speaking.  
  
"I'm not an expert on all of this 'Dark Lord' bull shit, and I hope to never become one, but I do have the general idea of the matter. He takes followers, he gives them orders, if they fail; he kills them, if they do well; he ignores their presence. Anything you wish to add?"  
  
"Pure-bloods are expected by their elders to join his followers." Draco was mumbling under his breath, deathly afraid that one of the Death Eaters found out he was talking to a Professor at Hogwarts about business dealings with the Dark Lord.  
  
"I'm assuming the reason you mentioned this is because it is expected of you?"  
  
He spoke barely above a whisper. "Every letter that I've ever received from him are secretly telling me to gain the Mark. They only say 'I love you, son' because he is implying that I am his son and that I need to follow through with my responsibility."  
  
"He is acting in what he thinks are your best interests. They may not be the best but he believes that those are the directions you should go in."  
  
"Just as you said! Those are the interests he wants for me! He! Him! His! Not mine!" His voice dropped considerably. "He deserved it. He ruined other people's lives...my life!"  
  
"Malfoy," the fire demon spat, pulling the wizards face close to his own by yanking on the boy's collar. "No one, no matter what their crime deserves to be sent to Azkaban! Do you really feel that it is your place to pass judgment on him?"  
  
"No," whispered Draco, trying desperately to get out of the teachers gaze. He wasn't shrinking as fast as he'd hoped he would.  
  
Hiei dropped the boy back on his chair and resumed his own sitting position, rubbing his temples in a desperate attempt to ward off the on coming headache. "Having your soul removed to feed another creature is something that should never he wished on anyone... no matter what their crime." He added an after thought in his mind. "Even if their only crime was playing with a ball in a park."  
  
"He didn't care, as long as he served his Master," Draco snapped.  
  
"At least he had a goal, unlike many of the other prisoners sent there. They killed just for the hell of it, they had no reason." Hiei stressed the last point.  
  
Draco had nothing to say at first. "You sound as though you support his cause." He was cautious in his statement and didn't look at the demon as he spoke. "Is that why you're speaking to me instead of Minamino? Are you trying to get me to join the ranks of the Dark Lord?"  
  
"Now you're jumping to conclusions. I've implied no such thing!"  
  
"You said he had a goal!"  
  
"But I didn't specify if it was a good or bad one." The conversation was going much faster than before.  
  
Draco opened his mouth to protest again but remembered there was nothing to protest against. "Sorry," he mumbled, feeling a bit stupid.  
  
Hiei snorted. "Just forget it." He sighed lightly. "Maybe he thought he just wasn't getting through to you. Did you ever visit him?"  
  
"Yes, once. It didn't seem all that bad... it was cool and extremely depressing and dark, but he has all those happy memories of when he was murdering people to keep him company. He was fine other than his bruised ego and less attention."  
  
"Did you go down to the lower levels, where the demons are kept?"  
  
Draco Malfoy's face drained of color. "T-they keep d-demons in that place?"   
  
Hiei shrugged nonchalantly. "When they need information they'll do anything to get it. Its not like demons have rights. Its kill or be killed in their world and in this one its die or be captured; no matter what their crime."  
  
"But how can they possibly keep them there?" Draco was becoming interested. "Demons don't have any memories to feed off of and they don't feel depression. They don't care!"  
  
"Who told you that?" Hiei asked calmly, understanding that that was how most wizards viewed his race. With no respect and living on the assumption that they were just wandering herds of bloodthirsty killers. No conscious, no lives, and no loved ones... he couldn't wait to prove them wrong.  
  
"I learned it from a book in my Father's library. Actually, he said I wasn't supposed to read those, but I don't care. He's dead now anyways... well, a soulless excuse for a human is more like it." The young wizard wasn't quite sure why he was telling Jaganshi all of this, but it wasn't going out of the room, so why not?  
  
"Well, that book is wrong." Hiei stated the new information flatly and stood up. "Now, Mr. Malfoy, if you have no further business here I will send you down to the hospital ward with Professor Minamino."   
  
"But I wanted to hear about the..." Draco's sentence was cut short when Hiei opened the door to the classroom and motioned for him to leave. He did so, but with a begrudged look on his features.  
  
The room was deathly quiet and everyone seemed to be reading or working on homework with the occasional exception of a whispered question between friends. The History teacher was already whispering in the older professor's ear, motioning to the black parchment still clasped in his left hand. Draco assumed they were discussing his trip to the medical ward.  
  
"Take him to Madame Pomfrey's while I send am owl to Koenma. I don't' want the Toddler coming to visit in person."  
  
"You didn't mention anything incriminating did you? I'm already deep enough to drown in and I still can't think of a reason you can use to justify my sudden absence when I'm gone. I don't need the added weight of a boy who knows more than he is supposed to," Shuichi said in an airy voice. He was calm even though his life would soon be at an end.  
  
"Nothing important. I just got through his thick skull with a few choice words and comments."  
  
Shuichi sighed in relief. "I'll take him down now."  
  
********  
  
Harry rolled over in his sleeping bag. He'd been trying for hours to drift off into the peaceful oblivion that was slumber. He made sure that he practiced Occulmacy before he went to bed and he wasn't thinking about anything unparticular. Maybe it was because they were sharing the room with the Slytherins. That was disturbing. (Thankfully Draco wasn't present.)  
  
Before they went to bed, the two professors announced that the two houses would be sharing a room for the night. This of course was met by moans, complaints, and several obscenities. Each house felt for sure that they'd be dead my morning and refused to go to sleep. Eventually, though, different people started blacking out from pure exhaustion (probably from being so afraid since Neville was one of them) so Minamino blew out all the torches as Jaganshi threatened them with all with detention in his office for the next two years of their lives; longer, if they managed to fail any years.  
  
The black haired wizard rolled over again and opened his eyes, trying to see if anyone else was awake. He could see Ron snoring peacefully beside him and Dean just beyond that, also breathing deeply. He sighed, exasperated, and sat up, careful not to disturb anyone. Just because he couldn't sleep and was board out of his mind didn't give the right to bring others into his line of pain and torture.  
  
He could see the silhouette of the History teacher outlined on the window ledge (it was larger than before) and the glint of his eyes as they flashed about the room, landing coldly on Harry. He tried not to gulp. Instead, he gave a slight smile, hoping that the teacher really did like him and wasn't conspiring with Snape.  
  
Hiei motioned towards a small chair next to the window and Harry decided to try his luck with the young looking Professor. He picked his way slowly around sleeping bodies and 'plunked' limply into the waiting seat. "Did you want me for something, Professor?" He whispered, trying not to squeak at all.  
  
Hiei shook his head. "You looked deflated," he said simply.  
  
Harry wasn't quite sure what to make of this statement. Most people didn't say you looked 'deflated' like they were talking to some kind of balloon. What kind of answer did one give? He opted to stay silent and shrug to show that he'd heard. (He didn't want the sentence being repeated anytime soon.  
  
The Professor turned back towards the window. "Is there something bothering you that is trivial enough that I don't have to wake the Old Man?"  
  
The young wizard wasn't quite sure if Jaganshi was referring to Dumbledore or Professor Minamino. However, the History teacher probably wouldn't refer to his employer as 'Old Man' unless he wanted to be sacked. Minamino was a better bet.   
  
"No, I just can't sleep."  
  
"Hn." No one said anything. Hiei stared out the window into the darkness and Harry shifted uncomfortably on the chair. They both could hear the other students shifting around in their sleep, a few of them making disturbing sounds. Jaganshi scowled as Ron moaned and rolled over. Harry blushed, not really wanting to know what his red haired friend was dreaming about.  
  
"Do you know how to stop the effects of a spell?" The History Professor asked suddenly, not taking his eyes off the darkness outside the window.  
  
"Am I supposed to?"  
  
"No, I'm asking you."  
  
"Oh... well, I guess it depends on what kind of spell you want to get rid of."  
  
"Not 'get rid of,' postpone the effects and then have them resume."  
  
"I don't think so, but I bet Hermione could tell you, and if not, the library is bound to have something." Harry suggested, not knowing where the conversation was headed. "May I ask what for?"  
  
"The barrier the other Professors put up around the castle yesterday morning, while you were still sleeping, is too keep demons from entering the castle."  
  
Harry didn't know how to reply. Did this guy want the demons in the school? "W-why would you w-want the b-barrier down?"  
  
"Not down, just a warning when a demon enters the castle. There aren't many in the world that would be able to come in the first place. The ones that are here shouldn't be and need to be dealt with. If they simply aren't permitted to enter and we receive no warning that none ever tried, how are we supposed to take the offensive?" The back part of his mind was telling him that Yukina had every right to be living in the human world, but he knew it wasn't true. He wasn't supposed to be there either, but certain missions required it and there were other reasons for staying.  
  
Harry paled a bit even though he was sure the Professor couldn't see because of the lack of light. "Do you think that the one I saw will attack again?"  
  
Hiei barely concealed a smirk. So, Potter had been the unlucky one to spy Kurama as he wondered around. To bad that the fox thief might kill him when this was all over… To bad the boy was important enough that he couldn't just kill him now and be done with it. The demon gulped down the blood lust that was rising in his mind. Plus, he didn't want to go back to Azkaban over the crime of killing a human; it wasn't worth it. Technically, he was on probation under the orders of Koenma as it was. No fun until he met another demon.  
  
"Maybe... depends on a few things."  
  
"What kind of things?" Harry ventured, interested that the History teacher knew so much on the subject.  
  
"How he feels, the overall challenge of the task, and his lust for the blood of humans."  
  
"He? Feels? Challenge of the task? Lust for human blood? What?" The wizard was confused. His original assumption was that this was just another part of the Wizarding world that he didn't know about when Ron was explaining all he knew about demons the previous day. Now, it seemed that either the Professor was mistaken or Ron was. Although Ron's descriptions of the demon race seemed more to the truth than what Jaganshi was saying.  
  
"The demon you saw was a male. Most demon females look similar to human females; the outward anatomy." Harry blushed deeper. "Unless they look like some monster out of children stories, then you can't tell the difference. They may be male, female, straight, twisted, asexual, bio... you never know with those kinds. The only way to find out is to ask."  
  
"Oh... Guess that makes sense." He'd never really though of the demon as a boy or a girl, he figured they were all the same.  
  
"Demons also like challenges. Why would you kill someone if the person offered no promise to help develop the body and the senses."  
  
"But I thought they were loved killing people?"   
  
"Only if it presents a challenge or if they are especially blood thirsty, as most of them are." Hiei's brow furrowed. "They could be interested in the actual kill, or maybe the thrill of reaching their goal. Or, they could be the more disturbing types and need the meat from a human to sustain life. Also, some kill just because they have the urge." He added a mental afterthought: "Which happens often."  
  
Harry was slack-jawed and he was staring openly at the teacher. "How do you know all that? Is there some type of book 'cause I want to read it? Its probably in the Restricted section."  
  
"No, I've talked to a few demons. They all saw something different. Most of them have had such a hard..." The door to the classroom opened and Hiei was on his feet in a moment, sliding instinctively into a defensive stance.   
  
Dumbledore poked his head in and chuckled lightly, his eyes twinkling. "At least you're alert, Professor Jaganshi, but I'm no demon." The Headmaster quietly entered the classroom and closed the door behind him. "I've come to relive you of your duties for a few hours so you can get some rest. You haven't slept for more than two nights I believe."  
  
Hiei nodded and stood fully up, his height the same as Yusuke's during the Dark Tournament. The Professor walked calmly over to Minamino's room and slipped quietly in, closing the door. Harry could hear a few sounds of someone mumbling something and then the squeak of springs as extra weight was added and shifted on them.  
  
Harry slipped a glace at the Headmaster who was smiling at all of the sleeping students, not seeming to notice the disturbing sounds coming from the adjacent room. "You'd better try and get some rest, Harry, you might be starting class in the morning."  
  
The Boy-Who-Lived nodded and hopped over the sleeping bodies to his bag. The room felt warmer and happier already just because Dumbledore was there. He slipped inside the sleeping bag and as soon as his head hit the pillow.  
  
******** 


	7. Means to an End

Disclaimer: Just bought 'Deadly Toguro' form FYE... I own YuYu Hakusho! Well... I do in my head.  
  
Special thanks to:   
  
Isisrin: No! Don't kill me...I have to learn Japanese and Arabic first! Thanks for telling me I spelled it wrong. I'll fix it from now on but I'll have to be really board to fix it in the other chapters... maybe I'll do it eventually.   
  
Katinstyle2: Sorry if I did ruin if for you, but I won't mention anymore surprises if you haven't already seen the series or read any spoilers (a bad habit of mine.) He pretty much does look the same except that his hair goes down to his ankles and he has markings all over his body. Yes! More goodies to eat and play with! Mwhahaha! Anyways... oh yes, Malfoy will get it, but since he is my favorite character in HP he won't die or anything. Would you feel happy in Youko Kurama looked at you right after he transformed? I would probably faint in happiness but since I'm sure Harry doesn't think Kurama is a bishy, he probably feels the opposite.   
  
SilverKnight7  
  
Lyn/Lin: Wow! Best friend huh... well that's a bit egocentric... Where did you get the Japanese version? TELL ME!?! I NEED to see it! Here is the link you wanted (just copy it into your address bar): http://ca.geocities.com/darkeyespharaoh/ this site has both Bakura and Malik pictures... I'm sure you can get to their respective pages. Although, it takes a while to load, it's worth it. And sometimes the pages don't come up; you should just go back later and try again. (Hint: Use Internet Explorer) Yeah, I've read 'The New Students' Actually I copied the whole story onto my other computer so I could read it whenever I wanted. There is more with Yusuke in this chapter. Thanks for the review! I really like talking with you. Do you have an IM?  
  
J: Thanks for the compliment!  
  
YokoYuyGal: No! Not bits and pieces! I need my story to stay whole! Ahem... anyways... I'm not sure about the Kurama romance thing. I don't like putting any OCs in my story because they take any from the other characters. I'll think about it...Thanks for reviewing!  
  
Darling Chii: Another one of my faithful reviewers (*sighs loudly and starts melting on the computer chair*) Anyways (have you noticed that I use that work entirely too much?)... Thanks for the compliment!  
  
Aria Sunset: Thanks! Yeah, they do have a mission... well this one is more of a detective mission... but you'll later. I can't tell the story now! No, I'll say THAT now. They will not be helping the Harry Potter club defeat Voldermort. This story is the exact opposite of any other YYH/HP you've ever read. Thanks for the input!  
  
FluffysBijin05: I hope I spelled your name right... Actually, I had originally planed it as Hiei was talking about Kurama, but I guess I could go either way since Dumbledore always seems to be giving Harry advise of comforting him. Nice insight! Updating now...  
  
Shunsoku: Sorry to disappoint you, nothing about Hiei's stay at Azkaban in this chapter. I already have a main part of the story planed out and that's where it will be... I don't know when we'll get there... But I'll answer your questions. I had planned it as the imprisonment after the Three Artifacts since I'm trying not to give away what happens at the end of the series to the people who haven't seen it or read anything on it. I'm using the barest possible information on Yusuke's background plus I don't know all the information myself. Thank you!  
  
6. Means to an End  
  
Shuichi awoke to the familiar weight of a small body curled up against his. He didn't have to think twice about who it was. The fire demon had only come in the red head's room when there was a particularly nasty storm and he could sleep in his tree or when some the collage kids returned home and had late night parties outside. (It wasn't the best thing for the small demon to be sighted by a few drunken seniors.) They had improvised by letting Hiei use Shuichi's bed without the knowledge of his mother and stepfather. It wouldn't go over well if they found out their son was rooming with the other boy.  
  
The older man sighed contentedly and pulled Hiei closer, relishing the few moments of peace he had before the castle came to life. Actually, he was pleasantly surprised that Hiei still chose him over the window seal (which Shuichi had furnished for a reason relating to this.) They spoke still, yes, but it was only business. Hiei never told Shuichi about his life anymore... or pretended to devise plots to take over the world again. They used to talked and converse over such things, but different assignments and personal lives got in the way. This was the first assignment they'd had together in eight years.  
  
They were both still on probation since they had much longer lives than that of a humans' and he wouldn't even live to see his freedom. Maybe Koenma would be kind and give him the rest of his life off... although it was highly unlikely. Every time he transformed into Youko he retained some of his energy; lately it had been the opposite. He was so old and frail that every time he took any power, he used it up so fast it did no good. The Youko had realized this and forcibly stopped the flow. Shuichi's energy was draining away even quicker now that he no longer had the Youko's power to back it up. It wouldn't be long until it gave out in full.  
  
He didn't see it as dying, though. He'd see Kuwabara again, hopefully, and the essence of his soul would still be alive in the form of Youko Kurama. Another thing to add to his 'I'm Screwed' list: His death would be easy to explain because of his old age, but how would they describe the missing body? Really it wasn't his concern because he'd be dead, but it was amusing the way Hiei's face twisted in deep thought before cursing loudly and leaving the room. It was just his second nature, literally, to cause trouble.  
  
Hiei squirmed at bit as if he could tell he was on his friend's mind. His eyes opened slowly, the brown contacts hiding blood red irises. "Is there really a need to hold me like that?" He asked, pushing Shuichi's arm away and quickly jumping out of the bed. "You disturb me sometimes."   
  
"Give me a break." He added an afterthought just to annoy his friend, "...Love. It isn't as though you even care."  
  
Hiei snorted lightly and fixed his ruffled black shirt and khakis (the clothes he had been wearing for the last two days since there was no time to change.) "Yes, well... What if someone saw us... too many questions from those damn humans would certainly endure. More so if it was an unlucky student."  
  
"Now Hiei, they aren't that bad." Shuichi coughed a bit and Hiei's frown content flipped to a frown of sorrow.  
  
"Their damn spells and charms are turning you in a mortal and it's that freaking' Toddler from Above that send you on this god forsaken mission. I'll kill him too."  
  
Shuichi rolled is eyes. "Please... you would do no such thing. Now, get back into that room and look after your charges." The now white haired man stood up and shoved Hiei towards the door. "Leave so I can change in peace."  
  
Hiei snarled then slipped out the door and into the adjoining classroom. Unfortunately for him, most of the room's population was already awake and lounging around. Harry and Ron were muttering things to each other in the corner and many of the other boys were playing various wizards' games or reading. Their attention turned immediately towards the History teacher as he entered the room.  
  
Dumbledore was sitting on the chair behind Shuichi's desk and was gazing happily out over the boys. "Ah, Professor Jaganshi. I see you've finally come round. If you'll excuse me, I have pressing matters to attend to with some members of the school board." The Headmaster stood up, his robes ruffling a bit at the movement, and exited the room through the double doors.  
  
Hiei turned to the students of Gryffindors and Slytherins alike, wishing he could just end it all right there. "Don't just stand there! Get dressed, we're going to the great hall to do something." The last to words were punctuated so much that the students decided that 'something' sure soundedt better than their present situation.  
  
********  
  
Albus Dumbledore, the esteemed Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, paced silently around his office. The air in the room seemed to reflect his mood directly. The atmosphere was tense and hot as the old wizard kept tugging at his collar in annoyance. Weather that was from the heat or the news he was waiting for, an observer would never know.  
  
It was strange of any Auror, much less Moody, to be late for a meeting. They were strictly disciplined people and all shared the same views on punctuality as the Headmaster did. This, however, did not atone for the sudden incompetence on the best. Moody had never been late for a deemed 'urgent' meeting before, so why should one deemed: 'not missable' be any different? In all, f Moody were to choose which of the two meetings it would be better to be late to, 'urgent' should be his answer.  
  
The headmaster sighed and sat heavily down on the soft chair behind his desk, shooting an uncommon glare at the fireplace. Moody was supposed to arrive twenty-four minutes ago with the report on Tonks visit to the crime scene. Normally, Tonks herself would also be present for such a meeting, but she was currently in a hypnotic state to draw out any memories that her subconscious might have memorized. They need all the information possible to catch this one.  
  
There was a small knock on the door that echoed throughout the office. "Excuse me, Headmaster but may I speak to you for a moment?" Dumbledore vaguely recognized the soft and calm voice of his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.  
  
"Yes, of course. Please come in Shuichi." The door opened and the old teacher stepped inside. He looked older than Dumbledore had remembered: tired. "Please sit down. Can I help you with something?"  
  
The professor graciously accepted his offer and sat, memorizing the room instantly with his still keen eyesight, like what he had been doing with the rest of the castle... this was the last room. "I was wondering if there had been any up date as to the whereabouts of the demon?" He asked calmly, resting his hands on his lap. Of course, he knew exactly where the demon was; this was just an excuse to enter the room.  
  
"Before I answer, I trust the Gryffindors are in good hands?" Dumbledore put safety above all things... a weakness, Kurama noticed.  
  
"Yes, I can assure you that they are safe. Actually, they are with Hiei and some of the other Professors in the Great Hall. I do believe they are participating in an unofficial Quidditch game," Shuichi assured him. "They will be just fine."  
  
"Ah, thank you," Dumbledore said, reassured that the students were well taken care of.  
  
"I was just wondering in any information had been found out on the whereabouts of the demon?" He knew there was no information, it was just an excuse to enter the room. He'd memorized all the others in case he need to do a quick getaway.  
  
"No, I'm sorry to say. There has been no other sightings." Dumbledore seemed a bit putout at his own information. "Unfortunately," he added as an after thought.  
  
Shuichi's eyes once again swept over the room just for good measure/ "Excuse me, Headmaster, but were you expecting someone." There was a fire in the hearth even thought the castle was perfectly warm without the added heat.  
  
"Yes, I am. He should be arriving any minute so if you could..." Dumbledore didn't need to finish his sentence because Shuichi was already standing and giving a slight bow.  
  
"Thank you for your time, sir." He swept out of the room and the Headmaster jumped in surprise at another voice.  
  
"Guest?"  
  
"No, Mr. Minamino is one of my professors, the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor to be exact. You don't recognize him? I though you two had met."  
  
Moody's head scowled from the fireplace. "No, never met the man, he seems a bit too quiet for my tastes. Didn't meet the other one either. Heard he was a bit of a strange one."  
  
The Headmaster sighed. "Yes, Mr. Jaganshi is a bit strange. I doubt I would have hired him if I'd seen a picture before an application. He has all the right requirements for the job, just not the appearance of a teacher. Looks a lot like a rebellious teenager from the States. Punks, I think they are called."  
  
"And you didn't take any of this into consideration during the interview?" The Auror snorted. "Really Albus, sometimes I wonder with you and your methods, although, they haven't gotten you into dire trouble yet. I guess that's something."  
  
"Minerva said something like that the last time she was here," Dumbledore admitted. "It is true that I probably should have considered someone else."  
  
Moody snorted again. "Just as long as Potter doesn't die or get himself killed. Then you'd get the boot for sure."  
  
"Have you spoken with Harry lately?"  
  
"No, has something to tell me, does he? I thought he might have died until I saw something about his love life in a Tabloid. Its nice to know that something familiar still exists. When all else fails, you can bet you'll still now the juicy details of the newest sex scandal."  
  
Dumbledore smiled a bit, happy Moody was there to talk with. "Yes, it seems as though the Boy-Who-Lived saw a demon wondering the halls after curfew the other night."  
  
"Are you serious, you don't sound it."  
  
"Oh yes, quite serious. The teaching staff scoured the castle but no sign was found. We put a protective barrier around the school, giving no access to demons. At the moment, all the students are in groups and are watched continuously by a teacher."  
  
"Any details, maybe I can scrounge something up."  
  
"Harry described it as having a humanoid form. The only outstanding features being a pair of cat ears on the top of it's head, a long silver tail, and long shimmering hair. The boy certainly wasn't taking the time to soak in all the details. He was working more on the art of hiding himself, although if the demon were really searching for him, he wouldn't have stayed hidden for long, no matter what spell he used. The boy would have no chance in beating a full grown demon in a duel either..." The Headmaster trailed off, disturbed at the news he was announcing to the room.  
  
Moody nodded. "Any trace of the demon ever being on the premises? I'm trying to piece together some clues as to what we are looking for."  
  
"Hagrid mentioned something about two chickens and four ducks being gone from the coop in the back. Clues?"  
  
"Hungry demon, was it? Well, there have been more sightings than normal in the last few months and rumors have it that Voldermort is building up some type of army. Although, it seems it is mostly made up of weaker demons and driving on just pure numbers. Nothing we can't take care of... but if he manages to convince some of the stronger types... lets just say were going to be out numbered one hundred to twenty." Moody was fiddling with something in the background of his side of the connection and his head was no longer visible in the hearth, but the Headmaster could still hear his voice.  
  
"Tonks returned from her visit to Japan yesterday," he said simply, seeming to switch topics. "She was quiet shook up over something or other and refused to rest until she was granted access to Nicolas Flamel's personal files. She mentioned something about 'that should have been the only one' and ran off down the hall before I could stop her. I haven't seen the girl since. She was as white as a sheet."  
  
"What was she doing in Japan?" asked Dumbledore, settling down in the chair behind his desk. "I though she was staying with Molly and Arthur at the Order?"  
  
"She was, but apparently a muggle was killed with one of the Unforivables and she was the only person available for condoling the family." He snorted as his head returned to the fire. "They should send psychologists on those types of errands, not Aurors."  
  
"I didn't know there had been a killing," the older wizard said, slightly putout that the Ministry didn't see fit to include him in their information flow. "Only one?"  
  
Moody nodded. "Yes, a man by the name of Kuwabara Kazuma. Or in Japanese: Kazuma Kuwabara. He was an old coot, into his nineties, thought not much family, one girl by the name of Yukina Kazuma. I'm don't know if she is a granddaughter or some other relation to the family."  
  
"Muggle you say? Odd, was there anything the wizards seemed to be after, or was it just spur of the moment?"  
  
"Nothing that anyone could tell. The guy was a law-abiding citizen, before he retired he had two jobs, one at the local gas station and the other as gym teacher at the local intermediate school. Wholesome fellow."  
  
"Tonks never said what upset her?" Dumbledore inquired.  
  
"No, just ran to the data room and hasn't come out in nine hours. I'm going to go get her once I'm done here."  
  
The old Headmaster threw his hands in the air. "Oh! Please don't' let the inquisitions of an old man deter you!" He smiled. "Thank you for the conversation, but any advise for my demon?"  
  
"No action in three days and only a few birds for dinner? It doesn't seem bloodthirsty. If it were, it would have went for Fang or gone to the Owlery. You should be all right with resuming classes. The longer things stay as they are, the more nervous the students will get. I say go for it!"  
  
Dumbledore smiled, despite the situation. "Thank you, Moody. I hope to see you and Tonks in due time." The Auror nodded promptly and disappeared form the hearth with a small 'pop.'  
  
"Now," the Headmaster said aloud for his benefit, "I think I shall engage in a bit of Quidditch watching." He stood up and exited his office, heading down towards the great hall.  
  
********  
  
Authors note: Sorry I took so long getting this out. I had writers block and then when I finally typed the last two-thirds of the story, I accidentally exited out and didn't save it! That's why its a bit shorter than normal, I couldn't remember what I had been typing about! Thank you for all of you who kept checking back! 


	8. Wondering if the Truth is Right

Disclaimer: Would you believe that I don't own anything... we'll of course you will!  
  
Special thanks to:   
  
SilverKnight7  
  
Spica P.I.  
  
nannon  
  
Darling Chii   
  
Bakagami101  
  
Lyn/Lin   
  
katinstyle2  
  
Shunsoku   
  
lemmings_please  
  
FluffysBijin05  
  
I'm not really saying anything because I'm trying to get this chapter posted. If you want to talk, send me an e-mail. Thank you!  
  
7. Wondering if the Truth is Right  
  
Hermione had practically locked herself into a corner in the Great Hall when the Quidditch game started. See had only interest in seeing Harry play and the young wizard wasn't present yet. So, she had once again taken out the dusty book and spread the papers out around her in a semi-circle.   
  
She had already done quite a bit of research on the subject from other books over a period of time and had found nothing that correlated in the least with what she was reading in this book. It had been a bit disconcerting at first; all the contrasting information was strenuous on the mind, but after the first few chapters, she was beginning to see where the book was heading. In all, if it had been a library book. It would have to belong in the Restricted section. It offered different views from the strangest people and things; it was amazing the author even stayed alive to write the actual text.  
  
The brown haired witch made a small note on another piece of parchment to come back and research before moving on. Over the last few days, she had been reading some of the more interesting parts of book (it occasionally became a bit dull.) The sections devoted to ancient practices questioning methods induced to control magical creatures was becoming increasingly interesting as they seemed to be hinting that most of the creatures were only captured and controlled because of a higher intelligence. How vain and conceited humans have always been.  
  
She flipped over a page and stared spellbound and the picture someone had drawn in. To her, it looked like an ordinary college of different magical animals being caged and tagged by different wizards, but the small text underneath the image said otherwise.   
  
"The 1856 Act of Precaution. Profound Wizards from  
  
Great Britain, France, Russia, Germany, and Sweden   
  
comb the woods outside Hamburg, Germany for the   
  
last remaining oni, demon thestrals, and kitsunes to   
  
currently resided in Europe. This is the twenty-seventh  
  
time they have attempted to cleanse the continent. The   
  
Ministry of Magic believes that 'there will be no reason   
  
to set up precautions for these and other demon-related  
  
threats.'"  
  
There was no record of this in any of the other 'cleansing' that the sixth year had ever read of before. She stared at the page for a moment before slamming the book shut and gathering her papers, no longer having the stomach to read anymore. Stuffing the bundle in her school bag, she glanced around the Great Hall hoping to catch a glimpse of Harry or Ron.  
  
Instead, she saw the Defense Professor and the History Professor leaning up against a wall, carefully watching the game that was taking place near the rafters. (It looked as though the ceiling was much higher than normal.) She could see both their eyes darting around following the players in minuet awe. They looked relaxed and comfortable, considering there was a demon running around (probably) in the castle.  
  
"Is there something you were wanting, Miss. Granger?" Asked Professor Jaganshi. The sixth years realized she'd been staring.  
  
"Oh! Umm... No, not really." There was a pregnant pause. "I was, however, wondering if everything in that book was true."  
  
The teacher closed his eyes and Minamino answered the question. "Yes, Miss. Granger, everything is true."  
  
She wasn't sure if she considered that a good or bad thing. For one thing, it was good that demons were no longer (of the greater population, at least) wandering around Europe, but was it really right to be killing off something for the sole reason that they were close to human intelligence? However, what happened to civil rights?  
  
"Yes, I see." There wasn't much to say.  
  
"Do you need something explained?" Professor Minamino lowered himself slowly to one of the benches that had been pushed up against the wall along with the house tables. He motioned for her to take a seat next to him.  
  
"It said that that 'cleansing' took place in 1856. That wasn't all that long ago, but I've never heard anything about it or have never seen it mentioned in any book. We've never learned anything about the subject in whole in History either."  
  
"Well, the subject is considered unspeakable to most people who know about it. They're too scared to think about the fact that they are rivaled in the universe. The terror is still too close, I believe."  
  
"The Ministry is paranoid," Hiei said calmly from next to Minamino. His brown eyes, however, were smoldering. "How very human of them."  
  
Hermione thought that comment a bit strange, but didn't comment on it, for Draco Malfoy was suddenly standing there, clutching a piece of gray parchment in his hand. He had a frown on his face, but looked more weathered than anything else.  
  
"Just came," he said, shortly, thrusting the paper into Jaganshi's hands. "I know what it means. Don't give a lecture." He spun around, robes swirling around his ankles a lot like Snapes, and stocked off to another table on the other side of the room.  
  
"He's still a minor," said the Defense teacher, quietly, still watching the Slytherin. "Who takes custody?"  
  
"Miss. Granger," the History teacher said, drawing in a deep breath, "We'll continue this conversation later this week when the schedules are back to normal."  
  
Hermione nodded and stood up, desperately searching for Harry or Ron. Thankfully, she spotted them by the doors, chatting about something with their heads. She quickly rushed over and dropped her stuff on the floor and plopping down beside them. "Hey!" she exclaimed, overjoyed she wasn't standing next to Malfoy anymore.  
  
They both glanced at her and Harry nodded. "She'll help," he said simply.  
  
"What? What's going on?" Had one of her best friends been attacked by that demon? Had someone else died? Did Voldermort come back to power and no one told her?  
  
"I was just telling Ron what the History Professor told me last night. About demons and all."  
  
"What did he say?" Hermione wanted to know. She couldn't get Professor McGonagall to say anything at all. The only thing she'd ever seen was brought to attention a few minutes ago.  
  
"He was saying stuff about demon have lives and goals," Ron commented. "A bunch of hog-wash if you ask me. Demons are like cockroaches; all they want to do is take over."  
  
"But that's not how it sounded to me," Harry almost pleaded. He turned to Hermione and silenced Ron with a flick of his wrist. "He told me that there are all types of different demons, not just those pictures they put in kids story books. He said that they killed for reasons, most of the time, and had reputations to live up to. Well, not exactly his words, but that's the drift I got."  
  
Hermione frowned, as did Ron. "Harry, are you really going to believe that?" She asked. "You just bet the man and plus, he doesn't look as though he has enough wisdom to be offering facts like that out. He could be working your You-Know-Who for all we know!"  
  
"But that's just it!" Harry whined, "Dumbledore picks his teachers specifically, there's no way Jaganshi could be working for Voldermort and Dumbledore hire him!"  
  
"Harry," Ron started, "Think about this rationally, the guy is psycho, he looks like a muggle, and he talks with Snape! There is no way that what he is telling you is true, it's probably a bunch of horse-"  
  
Hermione interrupted him. "Ron is right, Harry. We can't trust him until we know him better. One class period and breakfast time isn't enough."  
  
Harry pouted, but he knew that he had lost the argument. "Fine, I won't believe any of the stuff he told me about demons." His hand seemed to automatically reach for the jewel around his neck and he began to stroke it with his thumb.  
  
Hermione noticed this and sent a disapproving glare his way. "Harry, why do you like that?"  
  
He shrugged nonchalantly. "I dunno... it's starting to make me feel better again."  
  
The brown haired sixth years frowned. "I think you should get it checked out with Professor McGonagall. The whole school is becoming too attached to them."  
  
"Oh, lighten up, Hermione!" Ron whined, "It's just a stone, what could it possibly do?"  
  
"You seem to forget our first year here. You know, the one with the stone that brings immortal life!" Her face was red.  
  
"Oh... yes well... No one be stupid to make hundreds of them and sell them to a bunch of kids!"  
  
"No." Hermione looked putout at being corrected. "But I still think you should talk to a teacher about it."  
  
"I already did," Harry added. "Professor Minamino asked if he could look at it."  
  
"And?"  
  
"He didn't really say anything... but I had said I went down to the kitchen because I was feeling happy. He asked me about that. But didn't comment when I didn't know why." Harry said, dropping the jewel so it would hang inside his shirt. His 'stroking' habit was beginning to annoy himself.  
  
"Nothing at all?" Hermione questioned. Maybe they should bring up both subjects with the Headmaster.  
  
Harry shook his head and was about to open his mouth when Ron beat him to it. "Hey, Hermione! Malfoy got this black letter after breakfast and went to talk to Jaganshi in a back room; do you know what it is? Neville said something about his grandmother getting one, but they got a gray."  
  
The girl leaned back a bit and a thoughtful look came over her face. "I actually just saw Malfoy talking with Professor Minamino and Professor Jaganshi with a letter fitting that description in his hand, except it was gray instead of black. I don't remember ever reading about something like that." Her face brightened up. "But, when classes start again, we can go to the library and do some more research!"  
  
Harry and Ron slumped farther down on the floor and groaned. "Is that your favorite word or something, Herm, you love to use it." Harry glanced at his daring friend.  
  
Her face turned red again and she stood up. "Well, excuse me, Ron, but I don't share your same obsession with food and Quidditch. I tend to make my own way through life."  
  
Ron mumbled an apology and Hermione sat back down, this time leaning against a wall where she would have a good view of the Great Hall. She could clearly see the History and Defense professors talking at a table. Malfoy was sitting closer to them and watching the Quidditch game with a bored look on his face. His eyes were flicking wildly around the ceiling and she soon noticed the Seekers for both teams charging towards the exact spot he was looking at. The snitch was caught and the game was over.  
  
"It looks as though I have come to late to watch the game," said a collected voice from the doorways. The Headmaster stood there, happily watching the team that won yell and shout. "Was it a good game?"  
  
The question was directed towards Harry who shook his head and answered: "I don't know, I wasn't watching it."  
  
Hermione wanted to ask the Headmaster about the new Professors and the blue and black gems, but the look on his face told the small group that he was there strictly for pleasure. She opted to ask him later when the situation had cooled down.  
  
"They'll probably play another game, sir," Harry said. Maybe if the Headmaster were in a good mood, he'd let them go back to the common rooms.  
  
Dumbledore smiled and nodded. "I do hope so."  
  
They watched silently as the team captains passed out, the brooms to the different members of the team. Obviously, some of the different players positions were being changed for the best. They were confused, though, when the previous seeker on the loosing team declined the offer of the broom and instead when to talk with some of his friends. The team captain, a fourth year Slytherin, looked around the Great Hall in stress; he needed find a new Seeker. His eyes fell on Malfoy and opened his mouth to yell something when the older Slytherin shook his head.  
  
Harry might have stepped in for the younger boy, but the Seeker wasn't about to take instructions from a Slytherin. Instead, he busied himself in another conversation about Quidditch with Ron. That was, until Hermione issued a squeal of surprise and the Headmaster mumbled something incoherent under his breath.  
  
Both boys glance up to see the History Professor alight in the air at the whistle. He kept flying straight upwards until his head reached the beams (the bewitchment on the roof was gone and the ceiling had been magically raised to ten times it's regular height.) They could barely see him because of their angle against the wall; he was directly above them.  
  
"He's bloody crazy," Ron mumbled, hopefully not loud enough for the Headmaster to hear.  
  
Professor Jaganshi was slowly soaring around the playing field, his eyes seeming to look in every place at once. He swooped lower for an instant before rising to his previous height.  
  
"I hope he doesn't kill himself, playing like that," Hermione commented.  
  
Dumbledore chuckled good-naturedly. "Do not worry, Miss. Granger. Professor Jaganshi is well vested in the more physical side of life. Why do you think I put him in charge of the Slytheirn boys?"  
  
"I wanted to ask you about that, Headmaster," Harry said, "I haven't seen Sna... ah...Professor Snape around anywhere and I was wondering..." The black haired boy trailed off in his sentence, figuring Dumbledore already knew what the question was going to be.  
  
"Actually, Professor Snape is currently in charge of finding the demon that we assume is still occupants in the castle or roaming the lands close to here." Dumbledore was met only with disappointed expressions.  
  
Ron could be heard mumbling "Darn" under his breath.  
  
"Did anyone find anything yet?" Hermione asked, taking her eyes away from the professor-turned-Seeker to ask the question and receive an answer.  
  
"I am sorry to say, Miss. Granger, that none of my team have found any clues as to where this demon could be, why if was here in the first place, or who it was working for... that is if it was working for someone." He paused, "I am hesitant to call in Aurors from the Ministry; they might make rash decisions that might harm the school and it's students, not save them. I also would rather have news about this incident leak out into the public, although I fear that there will be no avoiding that."  
  
The group semi-consciously registered that the Slytherin's team had scored a goal. "Probably," was Harry's grim reply.  
  
"In any case," Dumbledore continued, "I spoke to Moody a few minutes ago. He feels that we should continue with classes as normal because if the demon were still here, we would've know."  
  
"That sounds a bit 'rash,'" Hermione commented.  
  
"True, but I also feel that..." The Headmaster's sentence cut short by the screams echoing throughout the Great Hall. Several of the professors were rushing over to where Jaganshi was already alighting from his broom. Dumbledore was by them in a flash as many of the students, including Harry, Hermione, and Ron, were crowding around trying to see the cause of all the fuss.  
  
Harry scrambled up onto the table to get a better view. He could see the History Professor holding Minamino off the table and slowly lifting the body into his arms. The teacher's face was covered in blood and he was cradling a broken nose in his hands. Jaganshi was whispering something in his ear and Minamino shook his head. Professor Jaganshi laid his on the table and disappeared into the throng of people. The other professors were healing him in a flash and McGonagall had even cleaned up the blood with her wand.  
  
"What happened?" Dumbledore asked as the Defense teacher sat up and rubbed his face.  
  
"Bludger went off course," he replied weakly.  
  
********  
  
sorry it was so short, I have to get to the good parts and yes, I know it's been over a week, updating might be a bit slow at the moment.  
  
Congrats to Isisrin for getting her own account on fanfiction! Now she will be known as 'Keda Jaganshi'  
  
*throws candy in the air* 


	9. Confrontation of Views

Disclaimer: I own nothing...  
  
Special Thanks:  
  
SilverKnight7  
  
Tri  
  
KageNoKatana  
  
(The person who didn't leave a name)  
  
Zodiac Ice Healer  
  
Skittles the Sugar Fairy   
  
Reviewer Responses:  
  
Katinstyle2: Originally, I had a purpose for having Hiei play in the Quidditch game...but I can't remember why... Oh well, it might come to me later. His father did die in a way; a dementor kissed him but he didn't die... It'll make more sense later. (There is this one really important chapter that ties a lot together.)  
  
Bakagami101: Harry doesn't necessarily believe them, he's just standing in the shadows for a bit. Don't worry, he'll do some snooping later. The tear gems will come in a bit later because I'm not entirely sure of how where their 'thing' is fitting in. Yes, Shuichi will once again return to Youko's body, but I have to fit something else in first.  
  
Darling Chii: Thank you, I'm trying to keep everyone in character as much as possible... It's hard!  
  
Shunsoku: The only kind of indoor soccer I've ever played is Silent Soccer (kinda boring but better than nothing.) 'Innocents getting smacked' *hehe* I like that... However, there is a reason that Shuichi got hit.  
  
Aria Sunset: Weather the bludger was purposely aimed at him or not, I have absolutely NO clue... It doesn't necessarily matter either way.  
  
Lyn/Lin: Yaoi: There will be NONE between the Harry Potter cast, but I added a hint of a crush in Hiei and Kurama's past... (I mean, REALLY! They have to be nuts to not think anything.) I have decided this because the Yu Yu Hakusho show is not at all Yaoi!  
  
Buttered Onions: Thank you very much. Yes, the bludger going off course does relate to something in the future, but that won't take affect for awhile. Hiei didn't really go off to anywhere; he just kind of left the crowd of people. (He and Kurama (Kurama, not Shuichi) don't react well to magic.)  
  
Thanks to all who reviewed and those who read...  
  
8. Confrontation of Views  
  
Hiei would have slammed the Kitsune up against the stone walls of the castle if he hadn't been worried about the older man's failing health and detraining human genes. Instead, he shoved him onto one of the students' desks and proceeded to loom over him "What," he hissed, "Were you thinking taking a hit like that?"  
  
The white haired man lightly pushed the fire demon out of the way and stood, straightening his robes. "There was no where to go," he said calmly, walking over to and sitting down at his own desk. Dumbledore had released the students back to their houses and classes would be resuming the next day.  
  
"Fox, I know you better than that, you have easily avoided that blow, even in your current state! Are you trying to get yourself killed and then transform right in front of all the students and teachers?"  
  
Shuichi scoffed and busied himself with sorting papers, though he wasn't paying much attention. "Did you ever stop to think, Hiei," the name almost sounded sarcastic, "That there could be humans behind be with no way of defending themselves? The first years have only been to two days worth of classes!" Hiei snorted and looked away, a way of showing that what Shuichi had said was true.   
  
"Was all the blood necessary?" the fire demon quietly, though his voice rose in volume sharply, "Did you really need to add that extra effect? My senses were screaming at me to taste it!"  
  
The Defense teacher blushed. "I'm sorry, Hiei, I did not think of that."  
  
Hiei snorted again and turned towards the door. "Yusuke agreed to give a lecture."  
  
Shuichi smiled. "Thank you for asking him for me. When will he be arriving? I wish to get the barrier down so that he may enter without sending off any alarms... At least allow him inside the school"  
  
"He said 'sometime after next week.'"  
  
"Ah, business I suppose?"  
  
Hiei shrugged. "Mentioned the Toddler, although he might be in the Makai or in the Ningenkai with Keiko."  
  
"Anniversary?"  
  
"No, just helping. Neither anniversary is until summer."  
  
"Ah," Shuichi changed the dreary subject, "Keep an eye on Potter, Weasley, and Granger. Dumbledore told me they are quite nosey."  
  
"Granger's smart; she understands... like Malfoy," Hiei said bluntly. "She's a hard worker. I gave her the papers and the page."  
  
"She'll understand?" Kurama questioned.  
  
"Most likely. She seems to agree with it."  
  
"And Malfoy? What of his course of action?"  
  
"The boy's family is gone to a certain extent... he seems to trust me and doesn't share the same views as Dumbledore and most of the other teachers here."  
  
"But what of his previous family ties? He cannot simply drop them and walk away like he isn't a pureblood. He would be hunted down and killed."  
  
"I'll take care of that." Shuichi nodded and Hiei slipped out of the classroom, heading down towards the dungeons.   
  
It wasn't late by any standards; it still being six-fifteen, so the students were still awake and allowed out of their dorms. He had volunteered to be a stand-in for the Slytherin Head of House since Snape was still absent on Dumbledore's business. None of the other teachers had been tempted to disagree with him... they didn't want the job! Now was as good as any to speak with Malfoy about the second letter he'd received that afternoon.  
  
The undercover fire demon swept into the Slytherin common room and quickly singled out the white hair from the sea of silver, green, and black. "Malfoy!" he commanded, every eye in the room turned towards him, "May I please speak with you?" It wasn't a request.  
  
The boy in question stood slowly up from his comfortable place on one of the many couches and followed the dark professor out of the Dungeons and towards the kitchens. Taking the door to the right of the main staircase in the entrance hall, the silent pair followed the corridor until they came to a painting of a bowl of fruit. Hiei quickly reached up and brushed the pear with the back of his hand. He didn't tickle.  
  
"So..." Draco started, hoping the History teacher would finish it. He certainly didn't know where the conversation would be headed. Last time they spoke, it ended as some kind of demented counseling session.  
  
"Have any plans for the rest of your life?" The teacher asked simply, sitting down a large table used for cooking.  
  
Draco's face dropped. He had been hoping for a lighter question. "I always figured I'd become a Death Eater and follow the Dark Lord into victory." He vaguely wondered where all the house elves were.  
  
"Plans changed?"  
  
The white haired boy nodded slowly as he slumped forward and plopped onto a wooded chair. "S'pose."  
  
Hiei frowned and looked straight into Draco's eyes. "Which way is the path heading now?"  
  
Draco shrugged, "I don't really care to tell you the truth, as long as it isn't anywhere near Potter's. Which ever way he goes, I'll be head the in the opposite."  
  
"Why is that?"  
  
"I hate him. Always getting all the praise…Mr. Perfect and his valiant friends. They're always getting in my way... just like the rest of my kin."  
  
"You don't care that they're all gone now?"  
  
"Not really," Draco answered, relaxing more in his seat. "My father was more of a way to live. He gave me stuff when I wanted it and I supposed he cared for me. My mother was an airhead. She spent all day priming herself in front of the mirror before going to some party with friends. Occasionally, she'd be sent on low priority business for the Dark Lord, but nothing important. I assume she was more of a breeder."  
  
"Really," Hiei questioned. "I was not aware that breeding was still being practiced."  
  
Draco shrugged. "Yeah, a few of the pure-bred families do something of the sort. Although, it's more a arranged marriage than breeding."  
  
The fire demon nodded. "Do you have any other relatives." He knew he was getting off course, but sooner or later, someone would want custody of the boy. Or maybe there was no one and he'd be sent to some kind of adoption center.  
  
"Not that I know of. Even if there are some, they're probably too wrapped up in the Dark Lord's work to care about me."  
  
"Or it could be the opposite," Hiei said, adding another point of view. "They could be rushing to gain custody because of the fact that you are a Malfoy."  
  
Draco snorted lightly, "Please, to them, I'm just a stuck up brat!"  
  
"Really?" Hiei asked. "Or is that just how you see yourself?"  
  
"I know they think that way. Have you ever see the way everyone looks at me?" The Slytherin paused. "Not that I care what they think."  
  
"No, I don't. Although, from how Professor Snape characterized you, I would have thought that you were popular enough."  
  
"I used to be, but I don't really care one way or another."  
  
There was an uncomfortable silence before Hiei brought you the more pressing subject. "Who do you want to take custody?"  
  
"I assumed that the Ministry would do something, I don't know what, and I'd eventually collect my inheritance. Nothing spectacular." The white haired boy leaned farther back in his seat, becoming more comfortable talking with the strange teacher. "Why?"  
  
Hiei left the question hanging for a moment while he gathered his thoughts to make the most sense. "Do you believe in fairy tales?"  
  
"What is this? Twenty questions? What about what I just asked you?" Draco spat.  
  
"I'm getting to that!"  
  
"Fine. Whatever, and no, I do not."  
  
"What about magical creatures that aren't listed in the text books."  
  
"Depends, which one did you have in mind." He drew in a breath, "'Cause all this talk about demons is getting on my nerves! I'm not going to believe a thing until I see one face to face!"  
  
Hiei smirked and Draco drew back in his chair. He didn't like that expression on the other's face at all. The Professor then leaned forward and looked the younger boy in the eyes. "Do you understand what you're saying? That you believe, or is it just that you See."  
  
"What on earth are you talking about?"  
  
The fire demon leaned back and a passive expression graced his face. "Would you care, that is if they were real, living breathing creatures?"  
  
Draco shrugged. "Maybe..." He paused and a thoughtful look came over his face. "Last time, you mentioned something about Azkaban and the lower levels. Would you elaborate?"  
  
"It was nothing, but as Granger is you so desire."  
  
"No," Draco's voice was beginning to rise as he developed a small twitch underneath his right eye. "It wasn't nothing... Granger doesn't research 'nothing.' You know something about that place that others don't. Tell me what it is!"  
  
"Another time, Mr. Malfoy." Without warning, the History teacher stood up and left the kitchen, leaving a confused and perturbed sixth year behind. With a swirling of black robes, the latter exited the silent room.  
  
********  
  
Yusuke looked hesitantly up at the castle looming over his figure in the darkness of the English night. He blanched as his nose picked up the mingling scents of hundreds of children and more than enough animals to satisfy Kurama for years. Disdainfully, he fixed the black book-bag that hung off his shoulder and pulled his hair back out of his face and into a low bunch and the nape of his neck, luckily he had thought to cut it a bit before exiting the Makai and traveling to England.  
  
It had taken him forever just to receive an Audience with Koenma and then another two days to loose those stupid ningen wizards back in Japan. He cringed; he was spending too much time with Hiei if he called everyone 'ningen.' "And now I get to spend a few days with the Psychopath and the Fox. I am so glad that they got enough of each other in a month," he thought, his face turning a nice green.  
  
"You're here." Yusuke turned to see that the owner of the voice was a very tired looking Shuichi. He had large bags under his eyes and the wrinkles on his forehead stood out more than usual. "Thank goodness, I don't think I can stand being out her much longer."  
  
"You didn't have to wait, I can show myself in," Yusuke said, his normal cocky attitude showing easily through his voice. "I am a War Lord."  
  
The older man rolled his eyes. "No, actually there is a purpose for my being out here, other than to please you."  
  
  
  
Yusuke snorted. "And what, pray tell Fox, would that be?"  
  
"After you finished speaking with Hiei at the Leaky Cauldron, a sixth year saw the Youko wandering through the castle. " Yusuke snorted again. "Apparently, he is close enough to Dumbledore that he has position of the pass word to the Headmaster's office. He snitched."  
  
"I would exactly put that against him. If I was still back in the being of eighth grade and I saw a demon strolling through the halls, someone would know about it... But what's the problem."  
  
"I was not aware of it, as I was resting in my chambers, but Hiei explained to me that the other professors erected a barrier to keep all demon life out of the castle. This barrier, I'm afraid will not allow neither me or you back inside."  
  
"Well then what are you doing out here! You didn't have to tell me face to face. I would understand the situation and you could have sent me a note with one of those owls!"  
  
"I did not want to deprive my students of honor of speaking with a person educated in every type of Dark creature known. So I, with the help of a few acquired talents, found a way to break down the barrier for a few moments while we enter the castle," Shuichi informed him, smiling a bit at the comical look on Yusuke's face.  
  
"You could have just said that from the beginning," he muttered  
  
"I thought it would be quite entertaining to see you fidget."  
  
"No, not you, him." They both knew whom the demon Lord was referring to. "Now, can we get on with it! I haven't eaten since yesterday morning."  
  
"Of course," Shuichi said calmly, walking right towards the large double doors. He held out his hand with the palm clearly facing the gigantic keyhole, and pushed back one foot to brace himself. Mumbling something incoherent under his breath, the result was instant. The door itself almost looked as though it had buckled and the air around them was alight in a matter of seconds. Yusuke busied himself with the task of putting the fires out on Shuichi's robes while he finished.   
  
"Let pass," he was clearly, thought his voice was strained and biting, "The ones who are exiled. Let Them breathe the tainted air and let Them walk in the shadows of the carriers of sadness. Do this and will They will cause no harm upon the innocent, but pass Ultimate Judgment on the figures of tale!" The pounding in Yusuke's ears stopped and he warily glanced at the door. It was open a crack, letting out the candle light spill onto the stone steps.  
  
Shuichi smiled weakly. "It's only open for fifty seconds. Take it, or leave it." Yusuke bolted for the door and the other demon slipped in behind him and closed it. They could almost feel the castle shudder beneath their feet. Apparently, it still remembered the duties it was commanded to perform.  
  
"I believe that we are in the clear. I think the castle will not cry out, as had feared it might."  
  
Yusuke glanced at his companion. "What?"  
  
"I was only told of the barrier surrounding the castle to keep all demons from entering its walls. I was unaware, and worried, that there might be another spell signaling an alarm if a demon was to actually enter the castle. Apparently, they hadn't thought that far ahead."  
  
The black haired demon raised an eyebrow. "You scare me more than Genkai."  
  
Shuichi chuckled behind a politely raised hand. "I do believe that I've just received a compliment."   
  
At the slack-jawed sight of the other demon, Shuichi continued. "At the moment, the students and other professors are eating the evening meal. You may either join them, or I can take you to your quarters, as I will be heading towards mine."  
  
"Are you kidding! I'm starving... but I don't want to sit with a bunch of stiff nosed professors and talk like I'm a normal person." He added and afterthought. "But, I'll eat if I can talk more with Hiei."  
  
Shuichi nodded. "Yes, Hiei does attend meals like a normal human. You should be able to sit with him."  
  
Yusuke grinned and fixed the strap of his book-bag again. "Great! Let's eat!"  
  
The white haired professor nodded again and turned towards the next set of double doors, of which the Great Hall was behind. "Follow me, and don't glare, make any rude comments, stay away from a wizard if they pull out their wand, and answer if you are asked a question." He paused at the doors and looked over his shoulder at the fellow Detective. "And, if they mention anything about demons, you are to pretend that the Cleansing took care of them and only a few ones remain."  
  
The black haired 'teenager' sneered. "Why is that?"  
  
"Because that is what everyone believes." Without saying anymore, he leaned into one of the doors and pushed it open, leaving Yusuke in plain view of everyone. "C'mon, lets go."  
  
******** 


	10. First Impressions

Mystery on History of Magic  
  
9. First Impressions  
  
Dumbledore wasn't quite sure what to make of the young man in front of him. The wizard stood up and extended a hand, reaching almost rudely over the Head table. The black haired youth might have looked normal to a muggle, but to a high-class wizard, Dumbledore found his appearance a bit odd. He had been expecting a wizard well into his forties, not a teenager off the street. The man in question had his shoulder length black hair pulled back into a loose ponytail at the nape of his skull and was adorned in a white T-shirt; a pair of almost too tight jeans, a black blazer, and a black book-bag slung over one shoulder. A small flash of silver could be seen every time he moved telling the Headmaster that he was wearing some type of jewelry.  
  
Although, the school (and the Headmaster) had a reputation to uphold, so he immediately offered a greeting. "Welcome to Hogwarts, Mr. Urameshi. I am very happy to hear that you'll be helping Professor Minamino with his class."  
  
The young man smiled in an almost cocky way and shook the much older man's hand. "Well, Shuichi over here said he was desperate 'cause nothing was entering his thick skull. So, I decided to give the old man a hand and help him out."  
  
The other professor snorted and mumbled under his breath something that sounded suspiciously like: "You'd think that he would have acquired some manners by now."  
  
"I do hope that is not the case, since Professor Minamino has only been teaching classes a few days," Dumbledore offered, obviously, Mr. Urameshi was joking.   
  
"If you do not mind, I would like to attend one of your classes," Dumbledore continued, oblivious to the feeling of doom the History professor was admitting.  
  
Yusuke waved his hand nonchalantly through the air. "S' alright with me... I've got nothing to hid." He seemed to quite sure about himself on the subject.  
  
When Shuichi had decided that nothing would go wrong (Yusuke had chosen Shuichi's old seat next to Hiei) he politely excused himself leaving the other professor to bombard the young Warlord with questions. "So, Mr. Urameshi," McGonagall said, "What do you specialize in?"  
  
"Dark magical creatures I suppose... different types of international business too." He snatched a butter roll from the basket in front of him and promptly bit off a small piece. "It depends what I'm need for... normally teaching isn't one of them."  
  
"'International business, huh," Snape commented, watching the shorter boy with a cold glare. "Muggle type or Wizard?"  
  
"Both really. Normally it will involve both sections." Hiei elbowed him under the table.  
  
"Ooh!" Hooch squealed a large smile on her face. "Both huh, sounds kind of like a Auror!"  
  
Yusuke shook his head. "Not really. Auror go to school, have apprenticeships, and need an annual salary. I work on freelance."  
  
Snape scoffed. "No education. Did you even make it through your first years?"  
  
The Spirit detective sneered back. "Actually, I passed all of my years." He added a mental thought to redeem himself, "...of high school in Japan."  
  
The potion's master snorted and looked away, suddenly finding his food extremely interesting.  
  
"So," inquired Dumbledore, breaking the strained silence at the Head table and effectively changing the subject. "How did you arrive here, Mr. Urameshi? I did not think that the train was running today."  
  
"I walked part of the way and then hitched a ride on a friend's broomstick. Nothing spectacular, I-" He was about to mention that he had flown on a plane from Tokyo to London before he started walking, but he never got the chance. Hiei was already standing and issuing a nod at all of the other professors before hurriedly exiting the Great Hall.  
  
"Umm, did I miss something?"  
  
Dumbledore shook his head and chuckled lightly. "Professor Jaganshi does that sometimes. We consider it normal by now."  
  
Yusuke's brow furrowed slightly and he did a quick scan of the youki surrounding and inside the castle. He could feel a slight brush form one of the students at a table against the wall (enough to only tell that he had spent sometime with a demon and it had touched him.) Yusuke made a mental note to ask Hiei he'd punched anyone lately. The Spirit detective could also feel Hiei's own faint energy heading off towards Kurama's. It felt normal enough, but Yusuke's skill in the 'sensing' department weren't all that great and he knew that Hiei and Kurama shared a deeper bond. They had never really explained it at all, but Koenma had mentioned something about it before a mission about twenty years ago. Supposedly, it came from the deep friendship that the two share. Deep enough for them to know if anything was remotely wrong.  
  
"Umm, if you don't mind, I think that I'll be heading off to bed too. I've been up for hours and my head is dizzy from the flight." Dumbledore nodded in agreement and quickly wrote directions to his room on a piece of parchment.  
  
"You'll have a room near that of Professor Minamino since you know him. I hope you can find your way."  
  
"I'll be fine." He took the note that was handed to him and exited the same door as Hiei did, not wanting to walk back down between the house tables. (A very traumatizing experience if anyone asked.) Yusuke decided to head towards his room and keep a close 'eye' on their youki incase anything would happen. He'd just have to run faster if something did.  
  
"Did I mention that I hate school?" he mumbled under his breath as he pressed his hand up against the door of the specified room, grumbled the password, and entered. The note said that they would fix the room to his specific handprint the next day. Until then, 'pumpkin juice' would have to do. "And what the hell is pumpkin juice?" He flopped onto the large four-poster bed, after throwing his book-bag on the floor, and drifted instantly to sleep.  
  
********  
  
"Who the heck was that?" Seamus asked the surrounding Gryffindors as they headed up the stairs towards the Common room. "He looked like some street kid from one of those big muggle cities in North America."  
  
"I n'er seen 'im before." Ron mumbled through an open mouth as he finished off the last bit of his large chocolate chip cookie. He swallowed and added something else to his previous statement. "But no one can look that weird and not have issues."  
  
Hermione shot the red head a disapproving look. "You heard what Professor Minamino said about him. 'A skilled artisan in the field of Dark creatures.' I would have thought that you guys would think that was pretty interesting."  
  
"I agree with Ron, Herm," Harry offered. "The key word is 'dark." Anyone who associates with that half of the wizarding world is up to no good."  
  
"Thestrals are considered 'dark' because of the negative characteristics of needing to see death to see them, but Hagrid still handles them!" Hermione protested as Ron and Harry shook their heads.  
  
"Admit it, Hermione, he was just plain freaky. The guy couldn't have been over seventeen and he's already working with Dark creatures... he even looked like some type of Dark wizard," Seamus added, shaking his head sadly as the small group entered the common room.  
  
"Professor Jaganshi doesn't look a day older than seventeen either- perhaps even younger- and you don't feel that way about him!" The girl defended.  
  
"Yeah, but Herm, Dumbledore picked out Jaganshi himself... this other guy is only here because of Minamino," Ron said flatly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, as he flopped into one of the high-backed maroon chairs in front of the fire place. "And Minamino is cracked."  
  
"And why is that?" Hermione huffed, crossing her arms across her chest and sitting heavily down in another chair, opposite of Ron's and next to Harry's and Seamus's.  
  
"He got hit in the head with a bludger and didn't even seem to care!"  
  
"It's not like he could have avoided it!"  
  
"He's always going in the back room during class and talking with Jaganshi, they can't get enough of each other! They sit next to each other at every single meal and are always together during breaks. Minamino even invited the Slytherins to spend the day with us because Jaganshi was their leader- and that doesn't say much for him!"  
  
"So," Hermione retorted; having to mentally admit that what Ron was saying was slightly disturbing.  
  
"And did Harry tell you where Jaganshi went when Dumbledore took over watch with our group? He went straight to Minamino's chambers without a hitch! And then, Harry heard him getting in bed with the guy!"  
  
Hermione's face paled and she suddenly found the fire extremely interesting. "I always thought that both of them were fine," she mumbled under her breath.  
  
Harry cleared his throat. "Umm, maybe Jaganshi takes it upon himself to help Minamino; he obviously isn't the youngest person around."  
  
Seamus's face contorted a bit and he bit his lip, a small look of contemplation entering his features. "Is homosexuality something muggles are used to?"  
  
Hermione frowned disapprovingly- making a mental note that she did that too often and frowning wasn't good for the face. "Who knows... It's become a bit common now but it normally isn't spoken of. A few people might know about an individuals sexual preference and that's it. Most people disapprove of it."  
  
Harry almost choked but he could understand the logic. It was just the fact of it actually being an option. "You don't think that Jaganshi and Minamino are..." he trailed off, not really wanting to know the end result.  
  
The girl in the group shrugged. "Maybe they are, but I doubt it's with each other. Minamino is simply too old and the homosexual theory is practically non-existent in wizards, especially in his generation. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if Jaganshi was anything but. He looks like he could easily fit in any culture just by the way he carries himself."  
  
"You notice too much, Herm, it's very disturbing," Ron mumbled.  
  
"I think our imaginations have gone a bit far for today," Harry supplied at the silence, "Can we go back to our original subject?"  
  
"I still think the guy looks like a lowschooler from America," Seamus said, restating his previous statement.  
  
"High school student," Harry and Hermione corrected at the same time.  
  
"Oh." The discussion seemed closed due to insufficient grammar and vocabulary arsenals.  
  
********  
  
Tonks wasn't sure what to do considering the Ministry's current situation. They were, as usual; completely blind to the happenings in their back yard, never mind the things that happened approximately six hundred years ago. Never mind that everyone had been so wrapped up in Flamel's death that they neglected to pay a visit to his vault at Gringotts and review his personal work files. Never mind that another Sorcerer's Stone was currently in existence!  
  
She knocked rapidly on Moody's door and yelled a few choice words when he didn't answer immediately. "What the hell is the matter?" He growled as he threw open the door and glared down at the younger female Auror.  
  
"This," she exclaimed, stuffing the parchment in his face and stomping into his disheveled office. "The Ministry knows nothing about it, I checked, and Dumbledore certainly would have done something if he had!"  
  
It was obvious to Moody that she was peeved and a bit put out. "Tonks, what is the matter?" He shook her shoulders when she didn't respond. "For Merlin's sake, woman, snap out of it and tell me the problem!"  
  
The bubble-gum pink hair waved over her face as she dropped her head. "When I went to visit the victims-the one just killed by Death Eaters in Japan- family, I was greeted by who I assumed to be an average teenage boy. Apparently, with the new information I've just found, he isn't. Or at least that is what I think is the case.  
  
"He didn't say too much, but just before I left, he said something about going to school with the victim. Now, the victim is over eighty years old... there's just no way that he could..." She trailed off and silence surrounded the two.  
  
"Okay, so the kid's a bit cracked, but what does that have to do with us?" Moody questioned, sitting the other Auror down on a chair and placing himself across from her.  
  
"I was freaked out by his words that I decided to do some investigating... I fist searched the Files on everything relating to the Sorcerer's Stone and Nicholas Flamel. There was the barest amount of information so I acquired the key to his vault- the one no one has checked yet- and went to search there.  
  
"It never occurred to me that Flamel had created a another Sorcerer's Stone without anyone else's knowledge-"  
  
Moody interrupted her at that point. "What? Where is it! What the heck..."  
  
"It wasn't in the vault. I went through his paperwork only and then searched the rest of the room... nothing what so ever."  
  
"Well, did anything say what he might have done with it, the ignorant fool?" Moody's magical eye rotated in his skull, swiveling around to look everywhere, as though expecting an attack.  
  
"I brought it all back with me- legally, of course- but I didn't find anything. There wasn't much on the parchment, just a few notes of complete gibberish to me. If any fairy tales were true, I'd say it was some kind of map or a bunch of clues to finding it. Flamel will only know." Tonks looked up, then, at her partner and her eyes darkened. "This is looking so good."  
  
Moody snorted. "It'll only get worse if Voldemort finds out about it... I can only hope that who ever has it now can protect it until we get there." He paused and his features turned thoughtful and his face didn't look quite so 'carved' as it had. "Though, this all started by this kid making that statement. You really think that a punk in Japan would have a gem of that kind? He'd never be able to pay for it!"  
  
"Yeah, that crossed my mind, briefly, but that's our best bet. We've no where else to start." She stood up, looking and feeling much better and shuffled over to the door; "I've got to sleep. Talk to Dumbledore, would you, it's best if he knows."  
  
Both eyes turned/spun to look at her. "Sure, I'll apperate over to Hogsmade and then walk over to the castle; it's much too risky to discuss this over a Fire."  
  
She waved her hand through the air almost carelessly, "Fine, fill me in when you get back. Wake me up if you have to. I'll be at the House.   
  
Moody nodded as Tonks left the small room and closed the door behind her. The older man quickly pulled out his wand from his robes and muttered the spell under his breath, the spell that would bring him to his destination. "Appareo," he landed a few feet away from the Three Broomsticks and was immediately bombarded with the smell of potion ingredients, specifically smoke from the fire.  
  
"I was not expecting to see you here, Moody." The Auror could recognize the voice anywhere.  
  
"Professor Severus Snape," Moody said smoothly, slowly turning around to face the Potions Master. "I thought that you were away from Hogwarts on a mission from the Headmaster."  
  
Snape's face contorted into a sneer and he resisted the urge to hex the older man in front of him. "Was, would the more correct word, Moody," he said calmly, "Now, I am returning to my glorious place of employment to further cram information into the minds of my unfortunate pupils. I can assure that I am in no hurry to return."  
  
"Not so fond a Potter, are we?" Moody matched the sneer. "Or anyone else for that matter." He turned and strode off towards the towering castle in the distance.   
  
Snape was walking next to him in an instant. "And what, pray tell, is your reason for entering? I was told the 'demon' situation had been taken care of."  
  
"I am not there to slay demons, Professor, but to speak with the Headmaster. Though, killing off one of the gruesome creatures might due my nerves some good, just to know that there is one less."  
  
"Done it before, I see," Snape commented, "Hex? Curse? Or maybe the old fashioned way of a knife slitting the throat?"  
  
"Just a hex, I assure you, but I do love a good knife every now and then." The Auror smiled a bit as they started on the main road to the castle... just a few more steps to go...  
  
"I'll take your word on it since I've never met one myself. Though I've heard that the Ministry has started to capture them and ship them off to Azkaban. They won't be there for long."  
  
"Yes, the Dementors leaving does present quite a problem in the demons case. I doubt the wizards held there would be too much of a problem since they don't know how to do much of anything without a wand. Only if the Dementors decided to get past the soon-to-be new guard and release them will we be in deep shit."  
  
Snape didn't' reply as they opened one of the double doors and stepped into the castle. They headed immediately towards Dumbledore's office and stopped only once for Snape to deduce Gryffindor House points for running in the hallways.  
  
********  
  
Author's notes: Sorry if I offended anyone with this chapter, I had to get the plot going! Also, sorry if it's shorter and later than the others are, I had no ideas:)  
  
Special thanks to:  
  
SilverKnight7  
  
Darling Chii   
  
Lyn/Lin   
  
nannon  
  
Isisrin  
  
DMG  
  
Skittles the Sugar Fairy   
  
Kitsune-child13   
  
Princess Krystal01   
  
Majin0822  
  
sora-doragon   
  
LadyBug  
  
Review Responses:  
  
YokoYuyGal: I don't like OCs very much so I didn't want to add any. (I've tried to make some up in one of my previous stories and it just came out an obvious Mary-Sue...) You'll see why I'm not adding any later. Sure, I read your story and I don't want you to think that I'm flaming you so, I'll send you my review later... I don't really have any time at the moment!  
  
Shunsoku: I like that statement: "What is it with Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers always being so distraught and having premature wrinkles?:)" You're right, but there is a reason for Shuichi looking like that... I can't tell you... sorry! Congratulations on your discovered talents... cake does sound good... I'll take Marble *grins.*  
  
Aria Sunset: When you mentioned that, I had to go back over my chapter and read it myself. Actually, I meant Youko Kurama (because they were talking about 'borrowing' something form the Restricted section.)  
  
FluffysBijin05: Well, Hiei always seemed like the kind of youkai (to me) that would have really bad attacks of blood lust... so I decided to add that side of him. There will be more with that later. He took him to the kitchens because it is the most private place you can go. As for the house elves, they're a little paranoid of the fire demon. :)  
  
katinstyle2: Whacking yourself on the head kills your brain cells, I wouldn't recomend it. Showing the student body's reaction to people is to srenuous, so I decided to let them have a more private conversation with eachother in the common room... yes, I know I cheated a bit, but I do like Dumbledore's reaction! Sorry, there wasn't any feet on table, though that is a funny consept... but I'm trying to make Yusuke act his age. 


	11. Never the End

Disclaimer: Oops! I forgot last chap. Oh well, I don't' own anything.  
  
Quotes of the chapter:  
  
"I'm warning you, if you so much as bruise what's in your hand, and I'll show you pain. The hue of your soul will cease to matter because you will not be judged when you die... you will no longer exist."  
  
-Kurama, Yu Yu Hakusho  
  
"Bastard. What do you want me for? And hell, why do your doors look so stupid?"  
  
-Yusuke Urameshi, Yu Yu Hakusho  
  
10. Never the End  
  
Hiei didn't think that he had ever stood so still or been quite so paranoid in his entire life. Even when Koenma sentenced him for stealing the Rekai artifacts or when he was being attacked by his own Black Dragon during the Tournament. It was the overwhelming sense of helplessness and hate in ones weakness that drove individuals into depression. The fact that there wasn't anything that could be done and all he could do was watch his worst nightmare play out in from of his eyes.  
  
He could see the fox lying on the bed, his face pale and strained. His hands were tightly gripping the smaller demon's as he breathed with deep, painful breaths. His long white hair was matted with sweat and his green eyes dull with pain.   
  
"Fox," Hiei said slowly, "This magic is killing you. Tell Koenma to move you. He can't detain you in this God-forsaken wasteland any longer. You're better than that."  
  
Shuichi issued a ghost of a smile. "Thank you, Hiei, but there is nothing anyone can do."  
  
The darker companion leaned over the elderly man and gently whipped his stick hair from his face. "Kurama, you are not allowed to leave. This mission needs you." Shuichi's eyes only closed. "I need you, Shuichi. You are everything to me."  
  
The green orbs opened again at the heart-felt words. "Do you really mean that, Hiei? Or do you just say such things to open my heart?"  
  
The fire demon scowled. "You lie here without moving while your pitiful human hearts stops beating and you still mange to turn you words into a speech."  
  
"I do because I know that you'll listen."  
  
"And why waste your strength?" The dragon master squeezed his friend's hand tighter and carefully dropped his head onto the other's chest. "I do not wish to remain if you will not."  
  
Shuichi smiled despite his worsening condition. "Hiei, you must. There are so many people that depend on you."  
  
Hiei raised his head and looked directly into the professor's eyes. "And you don't think that others depend on you? I would still be in that hellhole of a jail if you hadn't convinced me to help with the Saint Beasts. You shouldn't be the one to talk, Fox."  
  
"But my time has come, you still have many years."  
  
"Bull shit. Your time isn't anywhere close! It'll be here eventually, but not for at least another ten years. If Koenma doesn't..." He trailed off as a murderous glint entered his 'brown' eyes.  
  
"He knows that all this magic is killing us. If you die, I place the responsibility solely on the brat."  
  
Shuichi groaned. "You never could let anyone do anything they wanted. All I want to do is leave this place forever!"   
  
Hiei's eyes fell and he could no longer find it in himself to make eye contact with the person he trusted most. "I should have been the one to let the Detective in. Then none of this would have happened."  
  
"Well, I had no time to teach the spell to you and you don't know how to use Western magic. Even if your demon body allowed you to recite the incantation, something might have gone wrong!"  
  
"Why are you so worried about me? It seems that you're the one laying there, almost as dry as a vacuum."  
  
Shuichi sighed and closed his eyes, ending the heated conversation. "You know, this isn't really helping my case at all."  
  
Hiei's face flickered in a sad expression for a moment before settling back to an impassive appearance. He scooted closer to the bed and uncharacteristically started to lightly stroke Shuichi's hands with his thumb. "Is there nothing I can say to change your mind?"  
  
"Hiei," the professor sighed, "I have excepted that I am human. Why can not you?"  
  
The demon in question snorted and rolled his eyes. "It makes no difference to me what you are."  
  
Shuichi painfully shook his head in disbelief. "I don't believe you. If you had met me and I was a weak demon, I'm sure that nothing could have stopped you. You've always been like that and forever will. There is no doubt in my mind that you are only here for your own personal interest."  
  
"What the hell have you been smoking, Fox?" Hiei snapped, his thumb ceasing its action. "Have you learned nothing from our time together?"  
  
The white haired professor snorted. "Oh, please, Hiei! There was never a 'together' for us. It was 'me,' and then there was 'you.' No 'we'."  
  
Hiei frowned but didn't move from his position from the side of the bed. Instead, he stood and sat on the edge of the mattress and leaned over so their faces were inches away. He could feel Shuichi tense and his breathing accelerated. "Fox, you know that that word doesn't exist in my vocabulary."  
  
The older friend inhaled deeply and sorted out his response before voicing it out loud. "Hiei, you feel something for Yukina, do you not? What do you call that? Is it just a responsibility, or does something twitch in your heart when you see her smile?"  
  
The demon in question growled under his breath. "Don't bring her into this," he hissed through clenched teeth.  
  
"I'm asking a relevant question," the human side of the spirit fox said a matter-of-factly. "Just answer."  
  
Hiei closed his eyes and grit his teeth. "She is a sibling. I feel nothing more for her than I would anyone else in her position."  
  
Shuichi absentmindedly noted that Hiei would make a good politician. "I'm not saying that that you feel that way towards me, just stating that you do feel something." He stressed the last few words, trying to bring his point across. Arguing with the fire demon-the most precious person to him- was getting his adenine flowing and he was starting to feel better.  
  
The History professor suddenly stood up, doing some sort of roll over Shuichi without touching him, and let go of his friend's hand. "Come on, Fox, you need to fill in the Detective on his job."  
  
Shuichi frowned. "I thought that we'd been over this, Hiei. I'm tired and Youko is returning. I don't want another swapping of words."  
  
Hiei snorted lightly. "That was then, this is now. Get up. We're leaving."  
  
The older man in the bed furrowed his eyebrows. Hiei was right, he did feel better... what was going on. "Hiei..." His voice held menacing undertones.  
  
"You're such an ignorant fool sometimes. That's why the Brat didn't assign you any troops, you're to blind to anything when people get you started up on a subject." He smiled devilishly showing his sharp and glistening canines. "I was transferring Spirit energy while you rambled on about how much you wanted to die."  
  
Shuichi swore under his breath, but tested Hiei's statement by sitting up. Great, for once the demon had done something noble and just and the gesture wasn't necessarily welcomed. "Thanks," he mumbled, irritably under his breath.  
  
Hiei smirked again and pulled the professor to his feet. He reached up and straightened the older man's collar. "You're welcome," he said mockingly.  
  
********  
  
Draco Malfoy was at a loss. He'd been searching for the mud-blood Granger girl for almost an hour and had so far found no trace of her. He'd asked kids of all sizes and shapes (even a few Gryffindors) but he had come up only blank. The Library was empty save for one Ravenclaw seventh year and she wasn't sitting in the Great Hall with her idiot friends during breakfast. She had vanished off the face of the earth as far as anyone could tell.  
  
Luckily, it was a weekend and there were no classes so he had all day to search for her. Not that he was about to admit it, but he was a bit worried. For his own gain, of course, he needed her for a question; he didn't really care about her life.  
  
The blond turned down another hallway, vaguely noting that the Defense room was on one side of it. He stopped there and glanced in the classroom and moved on when he saw nothing. There weren't many places left to go. The Owlery maybe, or the Potions lab. He really doubted that she'd be in the latter.  
  
Draco glanced around at his surroundings and chose the hallway to fist left. He didn't necessarily know where it leaded to, but he also didn't really care. That he was aware of, it wasn't off limits or something of that sort. Opening the first door he came to, he was greeted by the gaudy Gryffindor colors of deep red-almost maroon- and gold. He quickly closed the door and moved on.  
  
The next door, on the other side of the hallway, was much the same, though it was decorated with the House colors of Hufflepuff. The assumption was made that these were the previous quarters of the founders of Hogwarts... may their souls rest in peace bull crap. Draco was looking for Slytherin. The next door on Gryffindor's side was locked and Draco did bother to try and open it, most likely, the spell wouldn't work anyways. The doors in Hogwarts were locked for a reason.  
  
He then pushed open the fourth door and was unhappily greeted with the smooth colors of Ravenclaw... thankfully it wasn't more Gryffindor colors or Draco would have lost it right then and there. His day just wasn't going as planned! Slamming the door shut, he stalked back down the hall to the main one and didn't notice when he ran straight into a brick wall.  
  
The blond didn't have the chance to loose his balance and fall before a pair of arms shot out and caught him under the arms and stood him back on his feet. "Watch where you're going, kid, you wouldn't want to run into Hiei on any day."   
  
Draco's head shot up at the unfamiliar and clearly foreign voice. The new guest that everyone had seen last night was standing in front of him, grinning and rolling up the sleeves on his black shirt. "Umm..." He wasn't quite sure how to respond.  
  
The man's smile only widened and he held out his hand. "Yusuke Urameshi or Urameshi; which ever way suits you."  
  
Draco shook it uncertainly and introduced himself slowly, still a bit dazed. "Draco Malfoy."  
  
The other's eyes widened considerably and his brows shot up to his hairline. "So, you're the one I've been hearing so much about." Draco's eyes suddenly narrowed and he slipped his hand in his pocket, gripping is wand. "Don't worry, they're were all good thing. Your History professor and Defense professor are good friends of mine."  
  
The young wizard loosened his grip and his glare faltered. "What did they say?" That probably wasn't the best way to give a good impression, by demanding things, but he didn't care. He had trusted Jaganshi with everything.  
  
"Just that he'd been talking with you." He dropped his smile but continued speaking. "Also, he said that he told you a few very specific bits of information. Don't forget it." Draco blinked rapidly as the black haired man smiled again and waved goodbye before sauntering off down the hallway towards the Great Hall.  
  
"Great," he thought, "Another freak." Though, he did have to admit that Jaganshi had grown on him. A lot, actually. Draco hoped that everything he was told was the truth and he wasn't just being used. He sighed, a strange occurrence in the Slytherin's world, and followed the man's example by heading towards the Great Hall. Granger would have to wait.  
  
"Really?" Someone questioned from the hallway up ahead. "Is she sure on that?" The voice sounded like Snape.  
  
Draco shrunk behind a tapestry when another voice joined them. He knew that voice well enough; he hated the person it carried from. "I looked over the information a bit too. Everything looks to be original and we can't take any chances in the case that it is real." Mad-eye Moody and Severus Snape rounded a corner.  
  
Snape snorted. "Ministry idiots. They wouldn't know if the Dark Lord became their secretary."  
  
"If he got a hold of another stone, he probably wouldn't want to be the secretary; he'd be already here and killing everyone in sight," Moody commented in his low, gruff voice. "And besides, I can't really see the Ministry wanting to hire him after he fills out the registration sheet."  
  
"But, what will Dumbledore do if he gets a hold of the other stone? That is, if there is another one."  
  
They rounded the corner and Draco slipped out from the tapestry. Moody didn't seem to be concentrating on his surroundings and his magical eye was looking straight ahead. "Only he knows."  
  
Draco crept up from behind them but kept a good distance. Snape was talking again. "The Old man will probably give it to Potter, just to spite me."  
  
"Maybe he will. That action could be considered a smart move, depending the reasons and the circumstances," Moody commented.  
  
"That's just what I need, Potter and his little friends gloating over how he is all powerful and now, eternally blessed with life," Snape scoffed.  
  
Draco suppressed the gasp welling up in his throat as Moody retorted. "I doubt that Potter will feel that way about owning the stone. Although, I am sure that his friend Mr. Weasley will have much to say on that matter, no matter how vaguely he might be on the subject. Probably a bit too much."  
  
"And that is why Dumbledore will not be telling Potter about this new development. Potter will tell Weasley, Weasley will blab, and then a Death Eater's brat will tell his or her parents. It will all get around to the Dark Lord in the end."  
  
Moody sighed. "I do understand your position and I agree with you. None of this gets out to anyone. The Ministry won't know and the facts will stay only between Tonks, Dumbledore, you and myself. No one else."  
  
The two (with a trailing Slytherin) rounded another corner and suddenly stood in front of the large stone sculpture leading up to the Headmaster's office. Draco knew that he could go no further, but he waited to see if they said anything else. Moody did. "I am such a fool, though, speaking with you about this in the middle of a school. Roaming ears could hear."   
  
The blond had the mental image of being put into suspended animation for the rest of eternity and he slunk into the shadows as Moody's eye swiveled around to look through the back of the Auror's head. "Thankfully, we do not seem to have an audience."  
  
Snape snorted and leaned towards the gargoyle. "Lemon Drop factory," he whispered through clenched teeth. Obviously, he did not approve of the Headmaster's passwords. The stone statute jumped away and the two older wizards entered through just as it hoped back, cutting off all hearing.  
  
Draco stood quietly for a moment more before shooting off down the hallway towards his dorm. Normally, he would have gone straight towards the Owlery and sent a letter to his father explaining the circumstances, but that wasn't much of an option now. Instead, he decided to take a long nap, and rid himself of a growing headache.  
  
********  
  
Koenma looked forlornly out over the desolate rooftops of his palace. The red contrasted horribly with the purplish-brown of the wall and the gaudy gold on the cornice. The light yellow land surrounding the dwelling was even covered with the bulk of the demon army, allowing no yellow to show through. Even the large river Styx didn't look so dark as it usually did. Everything had changed in the last few months.  
  
Before, the idea of even creating an army was looked down upon with scorn and betrayal. Now, it was almost a problem if they had no one with permission to kill humans who were out of line. 'Out of line' meaning wizards who were killing off demons, that lived in the human world, for no apparent reason. Kuwabara was treated as one of these cases even though he didn't fit under the 'demon' category. His death, along with many others, slowly led to the multitude that was camping out in front of the palace.  
  
"Koenma, sir, may I get you something?" The god in question turned to smile comfortingly at his comedy relief (and annoyance from Hell,) George. The blue oni seemed impressively beaten down for someone who never took things seriously. Kuwabara's death had hit everyone... somehow.  
  
"No, thank you. Has there been any word from Yusuke, Kurama or Hiei?" The god, having permanently taken up his teenage form, swept his eyes once again over the army before entering his office and slumping down on the large, comfortable chair. He glumly noted that there was no paper work.  
  
George dropped his head on his chest. "Sorry, sir, we've received no word. Though, Shizuru did tell a messenger that Yukina sent the package to Hiei a few hours ago. It should arrive within a week and a half."  
  
Koenma sighed but still smiled hopefully. "That's the best piece of new I've received in weeks. Maybe we can keep Shuichi around for a bit longer. Although, I doubt that the times will get any easier with those Aurors breathing down our necks."  
  
"Have they discovered the document, sir?" The oni asked, taking his normal place at the god's right side.  
  
"Yes, I'm afraid that a young female Auror by the name of Tonks found it later yesterday. She proceeded to deliver the information to Mad-eye Moody who is currently at Hogwarts telling the Potions teacher, Severus Snape, and Albus Dumbledore about its existence." Koenma dropped his head on the large desk with a muffled thump. "I do hope Yusuke remembered to lock his vault before leaving."  
  
"Yusuke has the stone, sir? But I thought that it was with Kurama!"  
  
"No, Shuichi did have it for a while, but then entrusted it with Yusuke to hide. I'm assuming he left in it in his vault, but who knows with that boy. I specifically told him not to tell me where he hid it so I would not accidentally give anything away."  
  
"Does Kurama know where it is? After all, the stone does belong to the Fox."   
  
Koenma shrugged. "Remember, these morons tell me nothing."  
  
"Sir," said a smooth voice from the doorway, "I brought the report you asked for."   
  
Both males in the room jumped at the voice. Though, Koenma was quick to regain his senses. "Thank you, Twenty-seven, I'll take it now."   
  
The voice revealed herself to be a demon of about five-foot-five with shoulder length turquoise hair and black eyes. She strolled casually in the room, her loose black tank top, shorts, and combat boots contrasted with her light blue skin. One hand was resting on the hilt of one of her swords while the other two clinked a bit as she walked.  
  
The two males swallowed the lumps in their throats as she dropped the papers on the desk and exited the room with a flash of black. "That woman scares me, sir." George commented after a while. Koenma had to nod in agreement.  
  
"That is probably a good thing, seeing as that will help her in battle," He commented. The god was about to say something about the how the wizards weren't scaredy cats like the oni, but he decided that it wasn't the time.  
  
Instead, he picked up the papers and scanned over the report. "Good, the breeding mine seemed to have been cleared out adding another fifty or so to our ranks."  
  
"I didn't know that you even set up a breeding mine!" George exclaimed, a but perturbed at not being told, but a little freaked that Koenma would ever think of doing such a thing.  
  
"No, I didn't set one up. A group of scouts found one underneath a castle in the Ningenkai and reported it. I sent a team of Allowers out to investigate further and they found the mine to be owned by a Dark wizard. She was quickly killed and the mine destroyed. The completed demons were then taken in and set up with specialist to develop a life for them. Most of them were drafted into the army as that's what they were created for."  
  
George's mouth dropped open and he collapsed into a chair that appeared out of thin air. "I thought that all the mines were destroyed right before the final Cleansing!"  
  
"Apparently not. Though I believe this one was set up only a few years ago as the demon are still very young." Koenma shook his head sadly. "I was told by the Allowers that the owner of the mine had recently been Kissed by a dementor and had left the job of finishing the Batch to his wife. The one that was just killed."  
  
"So there shouldn't be anymore problems with mines?" George's question sent a chill up his employer's spine and the god felt an icy hand clenching his heart.  
  
"I just don't know. I was hoping that Hiei or Kurama might be able to gather more information at Hogwarts, though it seems that the wizards there aren't as stupid as the ones at the Ministry. Thankfully, Hiei has been able to get relatively close to the son of a Death Eater."   
  
George practically fell off his chair with surprise. "Hiei talks to people?"   
  
"Yes, he speaks with Kurama very often and has been know to have a strange conversation with Shizuru every year or so." The god paused and opened a desk drawer and pulled out a small parchment envelope with another piece sticking out of it. He opened it up and pulled out the letter.  
  
"It says here that Hiei has somehow gained the trust of Draco Malfoy. The same Malfoys that were hiding the mine underneath their mansion." George made a small sputtering noise crossed with a choke, but Koenma continued to speak. "It seems as though Draco does not believe in the same things as his father and in fact, does not care at all what anyone thinks. Kurama says that Hiei was so certain that Draco could handle the truth that he immediately started to put things in the boy's head."  
  
"But sir," George said, "Isn't Hiei supposed to speak with you or Kurama before he does anything rash?"  
  
"Yes, he is, but Hiei doesn't listen to rules and I trust his judgment well enough in this respect."  
  
That conversation was obviously closed, but the blue oni still had another question: "Do you think that Hiei will tell the boy about everything?"  
  
Koenma sighed, again, but answered the question truthfully. He already knew where this was heading. "Yes, Hiei will, but I believe that it will help our cause all the more, not deter it in anyway."  
  
********  
  
Author's notes: I had to add an original character in because there was no one else to fit the part. She will NOT be a main character, but by using a woman, I'm conveying more of the demon beliefs compared to the wizard beliefs. Also, she is not a Mary-Sue and she will have NO romantic pursuit of any of the characters.  
  
Sorry about this chapter being mostly dialogue, but I hope it helped your confused minds... or maybe it made everything worse...  
  
Cornice: in other words, trim like around the roof or at the top of the walls.  
  
Special thanks to everyone who reviewed; I don't feel like writing out the whole list. There were sixteen of you. I'll send your answers through e-mail or something. Thanks for your continuos support and thanks for reading! 


	12. I Dream of Jeanie

Disclaimer: I don't own it.  
  
Author's note: I'm not doing any review responses because there weren't any questions and I'm having trouble with fanfiction and reviewers... I said something about it on y bio... The main problem was fixed, but I'm really up to working speed.  
  
Also, if everyone could give me REALLY harsh reviews, it would be nice... I want to use this story for my Graduation Project (you have to do one to pass high school) and I need it to be good... Thanks a lot! (I'm just glad that no one cared that I added an OC!)  
  
Quotes:   
  
"But more importantly we've answered the question: boxers or briefs."   
  
-Yusuke, Yu Yu Hakusho  
  
"Kurama, there is no man who bears no scars on his heart. If such a man exists, he would be a shallow bastard." - Hiei, Bonds of Fire, YuYu Hakusho  
  
11. I Dream of Jeanie  
  
With all the luck the allusive trio had been having lately, it was no big surprise that their Defense Against class wasn't till the next day... after everyone else had had it. Ron was kind enough to point this out to his group as they had breakfast the next morning.   
  
Along with the rest of the Hall, they were concentrating on watching their stand-in professor. There didn't seem to anything remotely strange about him (other than the fact that he looked younger than Percy) but Harry couldn't help feeling that something was wrong with the black haired teacher. From what they'd heard of various rumors, mostly spread around by the Slytherin house, he was an odd person. Apparently, he had his quarters stationed in Salazar Slytherin's old rooms and had a craving for mashed and baked squid at two-fifty six in the morning on Mondays. No one knew if either of those rumors was true but it seemed that the majority of the school believed the first one.  
  
"Figures," Dean commented, stuffing a large biscuit in his mouth and washing it down with a long gulp of pumpkin juice. "At the beginning of the year, we were so excited that we had History first because the professor was so strange and the Defense professor seemed pretty normal. Now, we would really rather have Defense first to see the other strange teacher."  
  
Harry snorted. "Yeah, it makes me feel like an idiot."  
  
Hermione didn't say anything, as she was poised over her book, her nose practically touching the paper as she tried to read the impossibly small print. She occasionally would sit up straight and crack her back before slouching down again; she hadn't done so for quite a while.  
  
"Herm," Ron commented, "You're gonna break your back sitting like that." There was no reply.  
  
Harry, who was sitting next to the girl, elbowed her lightly in the stomach and gave a small squeak of surprise when her face simply dropped in to the book. "Great," he mumbled, "she fell asleep and we've got History in five minutes. Help me, would ya Ron and Dean."  
  
The two other boys groaned and ran around to the other side of the table. "Herm," Ron tried when the three tried, without success, to lift her from her seat. "Wake up!"  
  
She mumbled something under her breath that only Harry caught: "Minamino... Makai..." The Gryffindor Seeker blushed as Ron tried again.  
  
"Hermione, the Library is on fire!" She didn't even groan and she was still glued to the bench.  
  
Harry sighed and dropped back into the bench beside the girl. They had four minutes to get to class. "I'll go get one of the professors, maybe they can-" his sentence was cut off as the girl suddenly started to fall backwards off the seat, her eyes wide.  
  
Luckily, Dean had good reflexives from playing his muggle sport, soccer (or football) and was able to catch her before her head collided with the stone floor. "Are you alright, Hermione?" He exclaimed. All three boys leaned over her line of vision as she blinked rapidly and started to squirm.  
  
"Yeah," she mumbled. The girl looked somewhat woozy and confused. "I think I just fell asleep while I was reading..."  
  
"Well," Ron said jumping up from his position kneeling on the floor. He helped the deranged girl to her feet. "We'd better get moving 'cause we're gonna be late for History."  
  
Hermione's face contorted to a look of horror and she quickly grabbed her things from the table before shooting off down the hall. "Hurry up then! We don't want to be late!" The three shrugged before hurrying after her.  
  
Thankfully, they entered the dreary classroom just as the bell rang. Professor Jaganshi threw them a disapproving look, but said nothing. Instead, he sat down on the top of his desk and surveyed the class. "I want you all to do a research paper," he said finally. A role call of groans answered him.  
  
"Pick one partner, I don't care if he or she is from another House, and present to me a five foot long report on an important historical event. Preferably, it should be related to the Dark Arts, since that is what we are studying at the moment." Some more whispers could be heard among friends, probably discussing who was pairing with whom.  
  
"Also, if you have need to a certain book, I might sign passes to search the Restricted section." The students in the room stopped talking and several people's mouths dropped open, Hermione's, Ron's, and Harry's included. "However," Jaganshi continued, "I will have to read the book myself before allowing you to read it."  
  
He paused, adding a more dramatic effect, (though Harry was sure he wasn't pausing for that purpose) and glared at the class. "I warning you, though, if anyone tries to take advantage of this situation, I can assure you that I will be speaking directly to your Head of House and the Headmaster." Someone could be heard gulping in the background, his or her plans obviously ruined and thrown away.  
  
A few more minutes of silence and Hermione's hand shot into the air. "Sir, will we be presenting these reports to the class?" Harry wasn't quite sure why his friend was worrying about something as trivial as that. It didn't really matter if they presented or not, Hermione's would be the best.  
  
"No," the professor answered calmly. "Because I want this report to be good, without any other worries. I want you to give me information. Dig around a bit, tell me something I don't know."  
  
Instantly, the reaction was evident in the classroom. Students started jotting down notes and writing different names of books on the palms of hands. Harry's own mind immediately flashed to the glorious report he could do on Voldemort fifty years ago or maybe some of the things they had discovered in the Department of Mysteries.  
  
He dropped his head. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. It would bring back to many sad and depressing memories. Though, maybe he could find something on the Veil... something that could bring his godfather back.  
  
The black haired youth shook his head furiously. That was just wishful thinking. It'd been over four months and there were still no signs of Sirius. Harry blinked away the tears that stung in his eyes.  
  
"Harry," Ron nudged his arm, "What are you gonna do for your report? Herm won't tell what she's doing and everyone probably thinks you should do something on You-Know-Who."  
  
Harry issued the barest of smiles. "I doubt that 'everyone' thinks that, Ron, but we'll see. I'm not sure what I want to do yet... What about you?"  
  
The read head scratched the back of his head and grinned. "Well, since he said that we could have partners... I thought that I'd pair up you." He smiled sheepishly and started fidgeting with the quill in his fingers. "But, if you don't wanna, I can always-"  
  
Harry cut his friend off. "No, Ron, I work with you."  
  
The class was quite noisy from then on. Partners were arguing about what they were going to research for the paper and talking to each other about things they need to do. In the midst of it all, Hermione slipped out of her seat and quietly approached the dark haired professor surveying the class. "Umm, Professor Jaganshi?" The younger looking man turned his head. "Do we have to have a partner?"  
  
"Is there a reason?" He asked.  
  
The girl bushed and she fiddled with the small piece of parchment in her hand. "Well, umm, I'm doing the report on the last Cleansing and I didn't know if anyone else was supposed to know about it..." She trailed off as she mentally slapped herself for asking the question in the first place.  
  
"No one is, actually," He agreed, "But I do expect a partner on the project. If you are in need of one, I will suggest Mr. Malfoy, as he is doing a report on the same general thing."  
  
Hermione's head snapped up and her mouth fell open a bit in confusion. "Malfoy! But how would he..." There were no words coming to her tongue and she could only gape.  
  
"Yes, Draco Malfoy does have a clue. He was looking for you yesterday, I believe." Jaganshi still sat on his desk and he leaned back on his hands. "Something about something I had told him earlier." Being vague was one of the professor's strong points.  
  
The young girl's feet were glued to the floor even as Neville Longbottom loudly approached the professor and showed him a small piece of parchment. "I don't understand this, sir," He said boldly, his voice not quivering in the slightest.  
  
The History professor slipped off the desk with ease and walked around it to the chalkboard. Almost mechanically he started to draw out a map, adding small details along the way. Several of the other students looked up, from where they were discussing the project, and watched with interest as he labeled several dots with names of long-since-gone all wizarding towns such as 'Coblesmuck' and 'Feldstring.' The noise level quickly decreased.  
  
He seemed to know that most of the class was watching, because he projected his voice louder than Neville needed. "This is how Iceland would have looked in the late fifteen hundreds; lots of wizarding villages with only a few muggle dwellings. In that time, it had not been settled and was only a post for sea-faring muggle folk."  
  
Jaganshi reached up again to add something when his hand stopped halfway towards the board. He didn't move, except for the flicker of confusion across his face. No one saw it. With no more than a swipe, one of his desk drawers was opening and he was already opening a bottle of Aspirin. Any doubts that the man was strange were quickly dashed when he poured at least ten pills into his hand and popped them into his moth, swallowing them without water.  
  
"Hiei," said Minamino meekly from the door. The entire student body in the room swiveled their heads in his direction. His face was pale and he was gripping the door for all he was worth. Harry, Ron, and Hermione's thoughts turned towards Lupin before a full moon. "Do you happen to have any of those left?" The Defense teacher leaned further in the room, a hopeful look on his face.   
  
"Hn," Jaganshi mumbled throwing the older professor the bottle. "Only five left." Minamino gave him a gentle thankful smile before exiting the room as quietly as he had come.  
  
Hermione's eyes were wide (along with any other muggle-borns in the room) and she turned a pasty shade of gray. Her mouth opened and closed with a look of total disbelief. Jaganshi turned towards her and looked straight into her eyes. She could feel her blood run cold.  
  
********  
  
There had been a lot of times in Dumbledore's life that he had been speechless. This was one of them. Mad-eye Moody and Professor Snape were still sitting front of him with frazzled looks decorating their faces. They had discussed the situation for over two hours that morning and five hours the previous day. They had researched all of Sunday and hardly slept that night. Still, nothing could be found.  
  
"Is Tonks absolutely sure?" the Headmaster asked for the at least the sixth time.  
  
  
  
Moody grunted. "Well, as I said before, she is at the Order right now. If you want to talk to her, she'll probably talk back."  
  
Dumbledore sighed (he'd been doing a lot of that lately) and dropped his head into his hands. "I cannot help but think of the safety of my students. If this menace should ever surface_ I dare not think what would happen."  
  
Snape scoffed and leaned further back in his chair. "All we have yet to do is find where the Stone is hidden. If it is in our grasp, the Dark Lord will not be able to gain it."  
  
"Easier said than done," Dumbledore mumbled. "There are no clues and no possible way of tracing the Stone."  
  
"A charm would not work?" Moody questioned.  
  
"No, I'm afraid not." The old Headmaster stood and began to pace the room, much to the annoyance of the two other men. "Flamel and I perfected a way to protect the stone against all magic. That way, it would never fall into the wrong hands… we hoped."  
  
The silence hung thick in the air until Dumbledore stood, a sad yet hopeful look on his face. "I think that we are in need of some new information. Perhaps one of the new professors has heard something... or maybe even Mr. Urameshi."  
  
Snape snorted. "Really, Dumbledore?"  
  
"I have to agree," stated Moody, though the two stood up and followed Dumbledore out of his office, down the staircase, and down the corridor towards the Defense classroom. "They have proven nothing by simply staying here. There is not much we can tell about them.  
  
"I've already met one, Minamino. He seemed like a nice fellow, though a little too polite. However," Moody's voice growled a bit. "That other one... I've heard strange things about him. He doesn't have a muggle birth certificate, though he claims to be muggle born, and I've been told that he looks like a teenager!"  
  
"Yes," Dumbledore said, sounding a bit putout, "Hiei Jaganshi is strange, though I've heard nothing bad about him. Most of the students enjoy having him as a teacher because he apparently quite unlike Binns."  
  
"I have heard several rumors about his flying episode in the Great Hall while I was gone. The brats seem to think him 'cool,'" Snape added, his breath hissing as he inhaled.  
  
Dumbledore smiled. "Yes, it was quite an amazing feat. I saw it myself."  
  
The conversation came to an abrupt halt as the three stood outside of the Defense Against Dark Arts classroom. The old Headmaster sent a reassuring smile to his companions, though he wasn't sure why, and pushed open the heavy door. Poking his head in, he quickly surveyed the room. Every Slytherin's, as that who was having the class, head was facing the front, a strange and rare look of awe painting over their features. In the front of the room the black haired youth was carefully petting the more bizarre creature that either Snape of Moody had ever seen incorporated in a lesson (besides Care of Magical Creatures.) Mad-eye practically pushed the Headmaster out of the way to get a better view.  
  
"...outside of Hamburg, Germany-" The surrogate teacher stopped talking and turned towards them. "You can sit down if you want." He motioned towards two seats that were open towards the back of the classroom.  
  
The three stood, stunned for a moment before sitting down. Moody and Snape were still scowling but Dumbledore seemed to be a little happier. Maybe it was that he was learning something new or that he was just glad to have a change of subject matter. However, his happiness didn't last much longer considering the type of lesson Yusuke was teaching.  
  
"Anyways," Urameshi continued, "They thought that they had destroyed all of these buggers when they cleared the forest, but I found this one about a year ago wandering around just outside of London's city borders. Thankfully, demon thestrals can only be seen by magical people, unlike their cousins."   
  
He paused for a moment to let the information soak into the crowd before chancing a look at the wizards in the back row. They looked stunned for a moment before Moody pulled out his wand and pointed it at the demon thestral. The animal shifted uncomfortably, it's black wings ruffling and it's hoofs stamping on the floor.  
  
Yusuke laid a hand on it's head and started to stroke it gently again. "Calm down, Mr. Moody. There is no need for alarm. This thestral is perfectly safe. The only type of magical influence that this creature still has is its ability to not be seen. Hardly a threat."  
  
The class of Slytherins turned to look at the Auror, the look of complete surprise turning into one of confusion. Snape looked disapprovingly out over his students before standing up, knocking his chair over in the process, and stalking out of the classroom.  
  
Dumbledore stood also, though slower, and bowed to the teacher. "Excuse us, we've been having a few difficulties lately." Not saying anything more, he gracefully swept out of the room and down the hall to his office.  
  
Moody still stood in silence, his wand raised and a spell on his lips. He was normally not one to go against the Headmaster, but nothing had been said about not killing the demon... Though, another part of him said that the demon could do nothing to harm anyone more so than any other magical creature and there for was not a threat. "Make sure that that thing is removed from the premises as soon as your lesson has come to an end." With a swirl of black robes, a bit darker than his normal taste in clothing, he was also gone form the room, leaving a confused class behind with a secretly perturbed teacher. He didn't speak, as he was afraid he would say something that wouldn't be appropriate, so he continued to stroke the animal.   
  
The thestral stood silently, glancing around the room with intelligent eyes. It could feel the tension in the air and it was getting hard to breathe. Its Master was mumbling something under his breath, though it was indistinguishable, and grinding his teeth in annoyance. The other humans, wizards, from what it could smell, seemed uneasy and continued to shift nervously in their seats.  
  
One of them was looking exceptionally out of place. (The boy smelled wrong too.) He kept rubbing his hands together and wiping them on his robes. The thestral could pick his sent up easier than the others, as he could his Master, as they both had the distinctive overlay of demon musk with a few tendrils of demon and spiritual energy. The blond, as that's what the color was called, was the only one seemingly uninterested in the lesson. Throughout the class, he had continuously stared out of the window at the sunny day outside. He looked contained, trapped.  
  
********  
  
AN: Sorry it took so long to come out, I have actually been pretty busy lately and wasn't even able to get on the computer for three days. (Which is a long time for me.) I hope the chapter doesn't seem too choppy; I was having a hard time writing it. 


	13. Field Trip to an 'A'

12. Field Trip to an 'A'  
  
The History room was abuzz with motion and noise as news quickly passed through the rows. The Slytherins were not quite the gossipers as the Hufflepuffs or the Gryffindors, but they did hold pride in the fact that they could pass information around at an alarming rate. Supposedly, they were having a substitute teacher. Professor Minamino, to be exact. They just couldn't seem to get rd of the guy.  
  
It was very unlikely that he was sick, since Madame Pomfrey could clear up most aliments in record time. So, the old other reason was that he was on a trip of some sort. No one could remember if he'd been at the breakfast table that morning.  
  
The class started out normally; Minamino making a comment on how they'd just be working on their essays instead of having an actual class. The students worked diligently for a while, with the noise level on the low side. Opposed to the school's popular belief, they did strive for a high level of excellency (with the exception of a few,) and did take their assignments seriously.  
  
Draco was working silently on his report, since he had no partner, while Minamino silently handed him a note and walked away. The wizard looked at it suspiciously before unfolding the medium size piece of parchment and quickly reading the small, neat handwriting.  
  
'Meet me at the Great Hall as soon as you receive this. You don't feel well and wish to go to the Infirmary.' There was no signature, only a small crest where the name should have gone. It was blue, had one section, and wasn't wizard in origin.  
  
Draco's mind immediately flashed to some kind of trick. He glanced warily up at the professor sitting calmly at his desk watching the students with a frown. He looked tired; not like his usual self.  
  
Minamino's swiveled and the two gazes met. The older wizard nodded, the only thing to show he moved was the hair falling in a different spot on his shoulders, and looked elsewhere. Draco didn't need to be told twice. Whoever wrote the note knew Minamino. He trusted the Defense teacher, against his better knowledge, like the way he held respect for McGonagall.  
  
Standing up, he slowly crossed the room, as he was sitting in the back row, and stood before the teacher's desk. "I'm not feeling well," he said. He either got permission, or he didn't.  
  
"Go ahead down to the nurses office, you aren't missing anything. Though, I trust you missing this class will not hinder your report in anyway."   
  
Draco nodded and quickly left the room, taking two flights of stairs down to the great hall. He could see someone standing there, a shinny broom slung over one shoulder. He was dressed in all black, with a white scarf around his neck. "Professor Jaganshi?" he questioned. The professor looked darker and the wizard suddenly notices how not-brown the man's eyes really were.  
  
The teacher smirked and Draco felt a shill go down his spine. "Finally. I was beginning to think that you'd chicken out or Minamino conked." He was standing up straighter and he almost looked to be leaning back in an almost girly pose. Jaganshi looked as arrogant as hell.  
  
"Now," he snapped suddenly. Draco immediately bristled and reached his hand into a pocket in his robes, griping his wand. "You'll be needing your broom."   
  
Draco nodded and hurried down to the Slytherin dorms. Unluckily, his broom was locked in his trunk and it took him three frustrated attempts to open the blasted thing and retrieve it. He really hoped that the professor's patience was a lot longer than it looked. As it was raining outside, he also grabbed his black cloak and flung it over his shoulders. Jaganshi was already halfway out the door by the time he arrived back up stairs.  
  
"Come on," he beckoned, mounting his broom on the steps up to the door. "We have got two minutes before the flu connection disappears." He took off into the rain and all Draco could do was fly off behind him.  
  
The blond could barely see a thing on the ground, might as well follow someone in the breakneck speeds they were soaring at. The only way he knew Jaganshi was up ahead was by the gold glow coming from a point somewhere in the midst of black clothing he was wearing. His wand, Draco figured.  
  
Draco leaned forward on his broom in an attempt to catch up. The professor would only speed up. He could see a few twinkling lights in the distance, a fairly large muggle city.  
  
Suddenly, the teacher dropped out of the sky in a steep decent towards one of the lights. It didn't look at all different then the rest and the Malfoy really hoped that the professor knew what he was doing. The soon showed itself to belong to a house, an old, dirty house with a mud puddle for a front lawn and broad boards for windows. One light was coming from an upstairs' window while another one was shinning from a bulb hanging from the doorpost.   
  
Jaganshi was already on the steps, opening the door and stepping inside. Draco followed him; he was at a loss in the muggle world. As soon as he stepped onto the entry, he could fell something swim up his spine. He felt colder and strange wind blasting through his hair didn't help to ebb the feeling of doom.  
  
They were entering the room when Draco had the first glance of the disturbance. There was an old man sitting in a modern looking chair. His white hair had a few definite steaks of black in it and his eyes looked distinctly Asian. He was sitting with his legs crossed and his hand folded together with only the tips of his fingers touching. The pale brown suit, thick glasses and red bow tie did little to enhance his appearance.  
  
Draco's History teacher only nodded at the man and turned to the fireplace located on one broad wall. It looked angular and twisted, like some kind of demented modern art in a stuffy museum. Jaganshi stepped up to it and motioned Draco to follow. He did so by carefully passing the man, keeping his eyes on him the whole time.   
  
A small purple pouch was suddenly stuffed into his hands and he got the impression that it wasn't his teacher's. "It's just Flu powder. All you have to say is 'Shizuru's Portal' and you should arrive at the right destination. Leave your broom here...Don't screw up," He added as a last warning.  
  
If Draco were a lesser person, he probably would have gulped at the menacing tone in the History teacher's voice. Instead, he propped his Nimbus 2001 up against the wall, took a pinch of the pinkish-greenish power out of the pouch and threw it in the fire. With a last second glance at the strange man in the chair, he stepped into the roaring green fire and yelled 'Shizuru's Portal' as clear as he could. Thankfully, he was wizard born and the experience was familiar to him. The name problem made up for that as the ride was a little less smooth than normal.  
  
He fell out of an unfamiliar hearth and onto a hardwood floor. He moved out of the way just as Jaganshi came flying out behind him. The professor looked paler than normal and he was clutching something around his neck.  
  
"Oh, look..." Said a low female voice from the doorway. "It's my favorite Ass-hole. Glad you could come, Hiei."   
  
The two males looked up to see a tall woman standing in the doorway to what appeared to be the living room. Her face looked young for her age and her long white hair was still falling gracefully over her shoulders. She smiled weakly and started to walk down a hallway, her stocking feet making no sound on the wooden floor. A large white t-shirt was tucked in neatly to a pair of blue slacks. Draco vaguely thought that she seemed younger than she looked.  
  
He followed behind Jaganshi as they walked past a few doors. On was open and he could clearly see a small figure lying under the white blankets. The room inside was cold. They entered another room at the end of the hallway. It was dark for the most part, but Draco could see the other two people perfectly in the strange light.  
  
"Do you have anything he can wear? He smells like a wizard." Hiei's voice was penetrating and the room was lighter from the glow inside a pocket where his hand was.  
  
The woman shrugged and flicked her hair over her shoulder. "Well, maybe something Yusuke used to wear might fit. Though it'll smell like him. That'd be stupid. I have one old outfit of Kurama's but it smells like a flowers. The kid wouldn't want to walk around there in that." She paused for a moment before heading over to a small closet in the corner of the room.   
  
She dug through it before revealing a loose t-shit and a pair of blue jeans. The pants looked a bit tight, but Draco could only see muggle written all over them. "I am not wearing that in public," he said, his face looking at the garments in disgust.  
  
The woman smiled again before throwing them on the floor and pulling out something else. Jaganshi was mumbling things under his breath in the background. "How 'bout this?" she questioned. "I was Yusuke's, but it looks human enough."  
  
Something suddenly clicked in the back of Draco's mind. He knew this 'Yusuke' person. The man was currently teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. "Fine," he snapped, grabbing the cloths. "Anything to get some answers."  
  
The woman smiled and left the room. It seemed emptier with her gone. The shadows were almost growing in the corners and a gloom almost seemed to be settling from the ceiling. Jaganshi didn't seem to notice; he only turned away and stared at the wall while Draco changed into the strange garments. They weren't all that uncomfortable, just strange feeling. All the fabric wrapped around his body and he immediately felt warmer.  
  
Even though he hadn't understood when she'd said that he clothing almost smelled 'human,' he did detect a certain musk emanating from it. It smelled almost as if it had been put into a cardboard box and stored a bit too long in some attic.  
  
A small gruff noise from the corner reminded him that the professor was still in the room. "Ready." The wizard nodded. "Fine, let's go."  
  
The teacher turned and opened another door, opposite from the closet and quickly entered it in one fluid step. Draco followed and could feel the difference right away. It was noticeably colder and he could see a thing. He turned around for some light and found the doorway to be gone. A small cry of panic escaped his lips before he picked a foot up to run to where the door had previously been. Instead he ended up falling head first onto a hard patch of black soil. He inhaled sharply and found the soil to ash.  
  
"Stand up, Malfoy."  
  
Before he could even think of following Jaganshi's command, he was roughly pulled to his feet and his head was pressed down onto his chest. Struggling like a fish in water, being his first instinct, got him nowhere as the two people holding him didn't move. He felt as if he was hitting rock when he tried to trip one of them.  
  
"Put him down!" He could hear Jaganshi spit out a string of curse words and catch him before he hit the ground, again. "Stupid low class," He mumbled. "Go one! Back to your posts!" Draco could hear the shuffling of feet on the underbrush, as he didn't dare open his eyes.  
  
"Come on, Draco, open your eyes." The teacher's voice was less harsh as he helped the young wizard to his feet.  
  
The blond cautiously open his eyes, first, only seeing a wall of dark green before his eyes adjusted to the darkness. There was pinkish glow to their left surrounded by a steadily growing purple before ending in a star-less black sky. Foliage of all kinds surrounded them on all sides, some looking even stranger than a few magical plants he had seen before.  
  
"Welcome to the Makai," was all Jaganshi said before starting to walk towards the pinkish glow. Draco vaguely heard him mumble 'could have at least gotten us a bit closer' and he running after him.  
  
There wasn't really much to look at until the castle came into view. Originally, Draco thought that Hogwarts was the biggest castle in existence. This place put the school to shame. The walls, on a bit of a tilt inward, towered at least twenty stories above them and the three different sets of doors only raced a third of the way up, each inside the other. The crown molding made of gold glinted strangely in the no-sun area and the red beneath it looked like blood.  
  
For miles surrounding the palace, there were tents. They varied in size, as some towered over others. Some of them came right up to the path and every-now-and-then; Draco could catch the red eyes of some nameless creature. Fires decorated the landscape every few yards and if the piles of weapons stacked nearby were any inclination that it was an army, Draco already knew.  
  
They walked for almost an hour in complete silence, the blond wizard finding the view to be too breathtaking to talk, until he was suddenly standing next to another being. He hadn't heard anyone approach and was quite anxious about the three swords hanging around the person's waist.  
  
The professor didn't seem fazed in the least. "Tell Koenma that we'll be there in an hour unless he can get us another means of transportation for the boy." Draco was about to retort and tell the teacher that he wasn't a 'boy' when the being came into view. What ever the wizard had been expecting, that wasn't it.  
  
The female stiffened, saluting with a pale blue hand, before she disappeared again without so much as a blast of wind. "What was that?" Draco asked, keeping his voice to a whisper. There seemed to be more of those red eyes than before.  
  
"She," said Jaganshi, stressing the word, "is a general under my command." At the miffed expression on the wizard's face he continued while starting once again to walk. "She is not extremely powerful, though her fighting techniques and wit makes up for that."  
  
"But what is she?" Draco stressed.  
  
"She was created in a lab by your father and finished by Emperor Koenma about one year ago. She is a B-class demon."  
  
Draco visibly paled and glanced worriedly around him. "You mean that that in every one of those tents in a demon?"  
  
Jaganshi snorted, "Yes, Mr. Malfoy, in every one. The size of the tent is the size of the demon." He stopped and turned towards the younger man. "You just remember that you are here with me." The professor whirled in a very Snape-like manner and started to walk faster.  
  
Draco wasn't sure if he even wanted to know what that meant. Everything he was seeing and hearing could flip his life around. Nothing was as it seemed anymore... the colors were swirling.  
  
He was suddenly aware that he was being lifted into a strong pair of arms and thrown over a shoulder. He started to struggle, but like the last time, it did nothing to hinder his captor.  
  
"Whoa... hold on shrimp. I'm not gonna kill you..." The wizard felt a cool hand on his back. "You need to pay more attention. Draco could see the ground beneath them moving again. They were going noticeably faster than before, thought, he didn't feel like the person was running. It was strangely smooth. Out of the corner of his eyes, Jaganshi was jogging along side, an almost stupid smile on his face, so unlike the usual blank expression.  
  
"So," said the man again (the deep voice was a large clue,) "Hiei, what are you doing here? I though Twenty-seven was in charge until you came back with everyone for the conference."  
  
"That was the original plan, but Kurama was spotted by that Potter kid and everything was thrown off. The wizards put up a barrier around the castle to prevent demon from entering. Kurama know the counter-curse, though." The teacher's breathing didn't seem to be affected even though he was running at a sprint, Draco noticed.  
  
"I guess Urameshi had a hard time getting in then too. Why did Kurama even want him there?" The man holding the blond asked. His strong arms were squeezing tighter now. Draco suddenly wondered if he was a demon also.  
  
"The fox said it was because of the Anniversary coming up. I don't believe him. Stupid fox needs someone needs someone to cover for him if something goes wrong. Too bad the 'wrong' already happened."   
  
A bell rang somewhere in Draco's head as he realized that this 'Kurama' they were talking about was the demon Potter had seen a few weeks ago. He drew in a sharp breath. This was bigger than he thought, bigger than what wizards knew.  
  
The group ran in silence before coming to an abrupt halt. "Finally," Hiei murmured as Draco was dropped lightly to his feet. He looked uncertainly up at the man assuming to see a monster. The kind and gentle face of the carrot head didn't fit the bill. Draco could see right through him.  
  
********  
  
Sometimes Harry felt that Hogwarts was a creepy place during the dark of night and likewise during the daytime when there was no one else in the halls. He'd also gained a shiver every time he walked by himself so unlike his previous years. The golden eyes of that silver haired fiend still sent panic attacks to his mind.  
  
The only reason he was even thinking about the demon, again, in the first place was because he was walking down towards Transfiguration by himself. Professor Flitwick had him stay after Charms to give him some pointers. He was having trouble with the one they had been taught that day, an opening charm. Maybe it was because Neville had bad aim and hit him in the chest with the spell or the fact that Charms just wasn't his forte`.  
  
Harry felt the strange feeling of dread seep down his spine and automatically reached up to grab the jewel that he knew would offer him comfort. He lightly touched the black gem and felt as if he touched a portkey. The nausea quickly stirred in his throat and he swayed unsteadily on his feet…  
  
Blinking, he looked slowly around at his surroundings. He was in a stadium of some type. The four levels were grim looking with the splotches of random colors along their length. Spikes jutted out from every available space and strange red bubbles connected to the highest most pecks seemed to stare at the beings below. There was almost no sunlight and the various obscenities and death threats coming from the crowd did nothing to loosen the atmosphere.  
  
The ring in from of him was blown apart from various explosions and the gigantic blood-red flower blooming on the slate didn't quite fit it's surroundings. There was another figure laying there. The red-head's body was torn open and blood was running freely form the various cut and chunks missing. He looked to be quite dead.  
  
There was something akin to desperation and fear rising in his gut. It was almost as his soul was being torn. He could feel no physical hurt, but his body ached with desire to help the bleeding creature. His vision was becoming blurry with unshed tears and his fists clenching anger. Whispers of renewed memories replayed themselves in the back of his mind, just one confusing jumble of thought, feeling, and experiences.  
  
He could practically feel the need to end the creatures life, put it out of it's misery, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. A strange feeling was rising in the back of his throat. It was sickening, yet he didn't know why he thought so. All he wanted was to kill.   
  
The tears were gone as instantly as they came. The person was getting up. The feeling in the pit of his stomach was gone. There were no words, yet he knew the other understood…  
  
He blinked, only to open his eyes to the stone floor of the hallway. The boy yanked the necklace off his neck and stuffed it in his pocket. He knew that he needed to see Dumbledore about the experience, but something else said that it didn't matter... it was all in his imagination.  
  
Harry shook his head with aggravation and ran down the hall towards Transfiguration. He didn't want to get messed up in all the problems about demons taking over the world. He just wanted Voldemort to be gone. Another chill and the Boy-Who-Lived started to sprint.  
  
The feeling of lose was still fresh in his mind and heart. He didn't even know who that person was, yet the feeling was strong enough to invoke the memory of loosing Sirius to the Arch. That maddening hunger to lash out at everyone, to only want the return of the person lost.  
  
********  
  
AN: sorry about the long wait and little section at the end... I was at a lost and really didn't feel like typing at all. This was a crappy chapter...Thanks to all my reviewers!   
  
Review responses:  
  
katinstyle2: He blushed because she was dreaming about a teacher...  
  
JulyFlame: Yes, spelling errors are a problem for me... I'll eventually get around to going back and fixing things... 


	14. Prisoner

13. Prisoner  
  
Koenma could see the wizard from where he sat on his large, overstuffed, red chair. The kid sure did stand out with his pale blond hair and magical aura. He looked quite out of place sitting on a swivel chair from some oni's office.   
  
It was almost sickening how many auras just like his had been infesting the Demon World of lately. First there had been the adventuress that came through the various portals just to discover what was on the other side. At first, the heads of Spirit World because them of hospitality purposes. Eventually, though, it was found that the strange auras that the wizards possessed were hazardous to the two other realms.  
  
All inter-dimension travel was banned and the various Spirit World agents living in the Ningenkai destroyed the known portals. It was taken for granted that no others wizards came through, with the exception of the black-haired one that fell through about a year before.  
  
Koenma wrinkled his nose, not in disgust, but in the strange heat radiating on his face. "Thank you, Hiei," He said finally, nodding in the fire demon's direction. "For bringing Mr. Malfoy here."  
  
The demon simply snorted and leaned up against one of the aqua tilled walls. His red eyes were intently watching the young wizard for any look of pain. There was never any certainty what the spirit or demon could do to an ordinary human or a wizard. If there was any problem, Malfoy had to be back in the Ningenkai before anything serious would happen. If he died or was unable to return, there plan wouldn't be able to fulfill it.  
  
The god turned back to the blond and smiled behind his pacifier. He could tell that the boy's eyes were looking at the 'Jr.' printed on his forehead. Maybe that was a good way to break the ice. "I see that you've noticed my head." The wizard nodded quickly. "Yes, well, most do, but do not chose to comment on it."  
  
Malfoy looked uncertainly at Jaganshi for some sort of clue as to what he was supposed to say. The professor's eyes relaxed. "Well, it's not something you see everyday." Considering the way the strange colored monster-things outside the door had been calling the tall teenager 'Lord,' it was obvious he was important. Draco hoped he remembered to think before he spoke.  
  
Koenma's smiled widened. "It jus means that I am still technically a child, though on my five-hundredth birthday, it should disappear since I'm the one in charge around here."  
  
The young man just goggled back. "Anyway," Koenma continued, "There actually is a reason that I had Hiei bring you here today." At Draco's nod of semi-understanding, he continued. "Since my intelligence here is limited due to incompetent Onis and war-crazed demons, I had no way of speaking to you in the Human world."  
  
Malfoy didn't really see where all this was heading, so he didn't say anything. The place as a whole freaked him out and there was no way he was in understanding of what the man was saying anything. 'The Human world' he had said. That meant they were somewhere else. Draco was really surprised.  
  
"So, I do apologize for all the trouble. To both you and Hiei. I need to get in contact with at least one wizard, not in custody, before speaking with the heads of your society."  
  
That was something that Draco could understand. At least he was here for a reason and not just to look and the pretty demons and return to keep it to himself. It seemed that the demon government, or whoever they were, were planning out something all along, a meeting of some sort with the heads of the two cultures.  
  
"I know this will come as a bit of a shock," Koenma continued. (Draco didn't think anything would shock him anymore.) "In the recent few months I have sent Hiei here to over seen actions at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I knew that there was no way that I would be able to communicate with a grown wizard because they are forever set in their ways, but, I hoped that a younger wizard would be better.   
  
"My first choice was this Mr. Potter because he had so much influence on the wizarding society. I was then informed that you, Draco Malfoy, would be better for the job."  
  
Malfoy couldn't resist a snort. Potter had beaten him to the pitch again, this time with something from another world. Then again, Potter wasn't the one sitting in the other world, talking to the head honcho.   
  
There was a few moments pause while Hiei took the time to voice his opinion. "Koenma, why don't you get him up to speed on a few things."  
  
The god glanced over his shoulder at the fire demon and then turned back, nodding slowly. "Yes, I'm sure you're aware of the event a few months ago in the Ministry of Magic." Draco nodded. "Well, I'm sure you are also aware of the fact that Sirius Black fell through an archway and didn't fall though the other side.   
  
"Well, that particular item has been name the Cape of No Return by a famous demon name Shishiwarkumaru. It is used to transport individuals to another place. On other demons, it will send them back to Makai from which they came. On humans, the destination is totally random, but it is never over long distances."  
  
The wizard could suddenly see where this conversation was heading. His thoughts were confirmed by the Lord's statement. "For wizards, we've discovered recently that they are sent to the Spirit Realm where we are now."  
  
Draco's eye's widened and he sat up much straighter in his chair. "Then Black is here?"   
  
Koenma stood up and readjusted his red cape. "Yes, he is, and I want him out."  
  
Hiei stood straight from his leaning position and went to the door of the office, pushing it open to reveal another black haired teenager in a faded pair of jeans and white t-shirt. He handed Hiei a brown package and bowed his head quickly. "The letter that came with it said that Shizuru sent it through a few minutes after you left. Said that it was for Kuwabara." The boy shrugged and walked off down the long hall yelling over his shoulder: "I couldn't find him!"  
  
Koenma looked questionably at the demon before turning his attention back to Draco. "Sorry, it does get a bit chaotic in here some time. I do think we need a change in setting."  
  
The wizard nodded, enthusiastically, and followed the god out of the room and down the hall to a small staff lounge. A small, low Japanese style table sat in the middle of the room with a few pillows surrounding it. Koenma sat carefully down and tucked his legs beneath him while Hiei took up residence in a nearby window, not really caring how the conversation went anymore. Draco wasn't sure, so he sat down with his legs crossed on the floor, totally ignoring the pillow.  
  
"Would it be possible for me to hear more about Azkaban?" the blond asked suddenly, twiddling his fingers absentmindedly under the table. "Professor Jaganshi mentioned something about it and I want to know more."  
  
Koenma sighed and slouched a bit on his cushion. "I suppose it shouldn't hurt to give some details. Just as long as know one else hears about them-"  
  
Hiei interrupted. "Miss. Granger may hear," he declared, never taking his eyes off the window. Though, somehow Draco got the impression that he was still watching them.  
  
"Ah, yes, Hermione Granger, of course. Anyway, the wizards set up Azkaban originally as a means as keeping their convicts away from life of any sorts. It is pretty much a regular human prison, with amplified security and decreased standards for comfort.  
  
"Eventually, Spirit World intelligence found out it's existence and we sent an ambassador to gain permission to send some of our convicts there instead of one of the Youkai prisons with, sadly, extremely lax security. They did except, but we were allowed a limit of ten demons there at one time.  
  
"Some of the criminals we sent into space and the majority were sent to Youkai Prisons. Not many were sent to Azkaban in the begging, but about seventy years ago, the crime rate practically tripled with the hiring of a new Spirit detective." Koenma stopped there and looked warily over at the dark figure on the windowsill. Hiei was glowering, but didn't look to be overly upset. Considering all the crimes he had committed, he wasn't in bad shape at the moment.  
  
Draco's eyebrows were rising slowly, clearly expecting the story to continue. This was the kind of thing that they needed to teach in History of Magic. He suddenly wondered why Jaganshi hadn't done something of the sort. He obviously knew the information by the way the Lord was looking at him. Though, from what Draco could piece together, the professor was on some type of mission... giving himself away wasn't the smartest thing.  
  
"Lord Koenma!" Came a peppy but worried voice from the hallway. "I'm afraid I have some bad new."   
  
Draco turned around to look behind him only to see a blue haired girl with pink eyes practically skip into the room. She looked out of date wearing some type of pink dress with a long wooden oar in her hand.  
  
Koenma's head snapped around. "Yes, what is it, Botan?" His eyes narrowed. "I hope it has nothing to do with Kurama."  
  
She shook her head and handed a large piece of paper. "No, actually, it has to do with Yusuke. I've just received word that the Ministry of Magic is looking into the case on the missing Sorcerer's Stone. It seems that Yusuke was immediately targeted from something he said to one of the Aurors."  
  
The god's eyes quickly skimmed over the neatly written kanji as Hiei leaned over his shoulder, doing the same. The fire demon was the first to speak. "Is that the only evidence they have? Jr. here was supposed to change his birth certificate each year."  
  
Botan shrugged. "I have no clue, but I did speak to Shizuru before coming here. She said that she sent Kuwabara a package."  
  
Hiei slipped in out of his robe and held it up for her to see. "My Jagan can't pierce the box. I assume that it's in here."  
  
The retired ferry girl nodded. "Yes, she said that you should give it to Kurama. I really don't know why, you'd think that he'd just take it or something."  
  
"No, the woman is right," Koenma, said, standing up once again. "Kurama, when he arrives, will most likely take it to his den. They won't be able to get a hold of it there and there will no evidence against Yusuke. I did charge the certificate."  
  
Draco looked at the three adults with a questioning look. He hadn't really caught any of the conversation, only a few names, because they were using another language. The blond cleared his throat loudly in hopes to get their attention. Thankfully, Hiei gabbed him by the arm and hauled him off down the hallway in the opposite direction the other two were heading.  
  
"Something has come up and Lord Koenma need to get some work down. Right now, we need to get back to that damn school before anyone notices you're gone." The demon said nothing else as he pulled the wizard past the Onis and their paperwork and out the giant front door of the compound.  
  
He dropped Draco on the ground and yelled something unrecognizable into the wind. In a few moments the black haired youth from before was lifting Draco onto his shoulders and following Jaganshi back down the road and past the tents. There was nothing to stop the wind from whipping past them and Draco was forced to close his eyelids because his eyes were starting to roll back in his head. He couldn't feel his face anymore and the only thing holding him on the man's back were that strong arms under his legs and his own weight leaning over the man's shoulder. His bones were aching in pain by the time they were in the forest and standing in front of a black hole suspended in the air.  
  
The wizard wasn't given anytime to regain his balance before someone threw him into the blackness. The only thought he had was that it was going to hurt when he hit the ground on the other side. The landing was a bit jarring, but the sensation traveled through his whole body and he felt as if his bones and lungs were on fire.   
  
Draco fell limp on the carpeted floor, clutching his gut and breathing hard into the floor. He could feel a hand softly massage a circle on his back and a cool feeling admitting from something close. His eyes were still clenched tight and he opened them only at the sound of Jaganshi's gruff voice.  
  
"Yukina," Hiei said, reaching out and brushing the girl's wet hair out of her eyes. "Why are you awake?"  
  
Draco rolled over as the comforting hand left his back and leaned of against one of the walls. The young looking girl looked sad and she had tears gathering behind her eyes. "I though you might want some help with Draco." She paused and looked into the blackness behind the other door. "I also hoped that you might give me a message for Kazuma, but it appears that I've come too late."  
  
Hiei's feature's almost melted and he smiled a bit. "I'll have a letter sent if you write something down for me."  
  
Draco vaguely considered his teacher's strange behavior before another pair of hands lightly squeezed his shoulders and led him down the hallway and into another room. He sat down on the bed and swallowed the two pills that were provided. "I take it you ran around a little bit."  
  
The blond's head snapped up at vaguely familiar voice. At a closer look, the white haired woman looked much older than he previously though. There were many creases around her eyes and at the corners of her eyes. Laugh lines, he thought, feeling a bit safer (for some reason he didn't know) in the woman's presence. He nodded.  
  
"Keiko and I have told those boys over and over that us little humans can't take the stress. But, they either don't listen to us or don't remember." Her smile was comforting.  
  
"Now, can I get you something to eat before you go back to school? Believe it or not, it is six-fifty-three over there." Draco wasn't really surprised that the woman seemed to know about what was going on. He was surprised, however, that the knowledge was so far spread. How could so many know, but no rumors spread?  
  
"Sure," he said in a small voice, quite uncharacteristic.   
  
She left the room and quickly returned with a large bowl of noodles. She sat next to him on the bed while he ate. "So, your name is Draco Malfoy, huh?" At his slight nod, she continued. "I've heard a lot about you. Hiei is always mentioning you in letters to Yukina."  
  
At his surprised look, (he didn't think that Jaganshi was one to write letters, might as well mention something good about someone) she laughed. "Yes, a strange one."  
  
Nothing else was said while he ate, until Hiei announced from down that hall that it was time to leave. Though, the only thing that seemed to happen was the heat skyrocketing. Draco said a quick good-bye and thanks to the woman and girl before Jaganshi handed him the pouch of flu powder and gave him instructions.  
  
"I won't be joining you this direction because I have things to do here. Just say 'Taboo' and you'll be back at the house. There will be directions back to the castle on a table in the corner of the room since the old jerk is probably asleep. Take your broom and just leave mine there." He shoved the wizard towards the fireplace.  
  
********  
  
Shuichi paced idly in the main hallway in front of the Great Hall. It was still storming outside and the wind had blow down several large trees in the forbidden forest. If he had a choice in the matter, he would be sleeping in a nice, warm bed instead of waiting up for Hiei to arrive.   
  
If only the demon had been able to memorize and complete the spell himself, then there would be no need for the fox's waste of time. Though, he supposed that it wasn't Hiei's fault that he was unable to do magic. The demon blood coursing through his veins reacted strongly to that magic of wizards and would completely shut the body down if the brain feared that it was being exposed too much. It would cause the demon a considerable amount of inner pain, but was all-around a good thing. The body would fall into a sense of hibernation and only wake when the danger was past.  
  
As Shuichi and Hiei had found out the previous day, burst of Spirit energy in highly magical areas (like Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, or Gringotts) would trigger the magic almost as gunpowder does for a cannon. The result would he a serious of extreme migraine along with a flash of nausea and dizziness.  
  
To anyone else, it would look as if the person only had a quick bout of momentary sickness and would be better after some rest. However, that was not the case. In the instance of the previous day, after he had swallowed the remaining five Advil, Shuichi when on to retire to his room and fall into a deep trance. His lungs would still hurt with every breath, though; he blamed that on his older age.  
  
Still, he had less of a problem since he was currently residing in a human body and therefore the effects of the wave were lessened. Though, he knew that Hiei had it a lot worse off. Since Hiei was a demon, there was no way that he would be able, in any way, to do magic of any type. As in any other magical situation, his body would go into lock down and it would be extremely hard to explain why the wands burnt his hands clear to the bone.  
  
"Are you still awake at this unholy hour for some particular reason?" said a stiff voice. Professor Snape sauntered haughtily into the room and leaned against the large doors that lead outside. "If I were you, I would be getting some sleep for the inspection tomorrow."  
  
Shuichi's head snapped up, from where he was staring dully at the stone floor, to look at Snape in a watered-down version of his actual horror. "When was that announcement made?" He asked quickly.  
  
Snape shrugged. "I just found out from the Headmaster a few moments ago. He was planning to announce it to everyone tomorrow at breakfast. Seems you get to prepare." The potions master looked out of the corner of his eye at the old Japanese man. "Not that I hope that you have anything to prepare for."  
  
Shuichi mentally shook his head as his age old mind warned him that Hiei would be knocking when he arrive. If Snape found out that he had to let Hiei in the school with a magical incantation... well, he didn't want to ponder his second death.  
  
Instead, he smiled casually and flicked his white hair over his shoulder. There was the constant voice in the back of his mind saying that the gesture was getting a bit to familiar to someone else. "I was taking a late night walk." That was probably the lamest thing he ever said, but who knew, maybe wizards didn't know the normal lies and excuses such as: 'My dog ate it.' They were a bit cut off from the rest of the world.  
  
Snape scowled and glared indignantly at the other professor. "Whatever," he replied stalking off down the hall.  
  
Shuichi vaguely noted to himself that having a Jagan was probably a good thing in times such as those. There was never a way to tell weather most of the teachers were suspicious or not. Snape was high on the list of 'Suspicious Persons.' Another one was McGonagall, as she might have seen him running out of the library when he first transformed. She wouldn't even be one of the people to stay clear of if Shuichi hadn't accidentally heard that she could transform into a cat. (Though, he hadn't smelt a cat that night.)  
  
Thankfully, even being a human, the spirit fox's senses were still in tune to the events around him. The area was still scented with the foul odor of potions and smoke, but it was distant and there didn't seem to be any new scents drifting in from around any corners.  
  
Also, it was quite fortunate that Draco had already come in. The boy's fists were clenched tightly (on around his broom and the other crunching into his hand.) He didn't look particularly happy, though there was a hint of some satisfaction and closure on his features. Draco hadn't said a word as he marched straight down to Slytherin dorms. Shuichi hoped everything had went as planned and Youko hoped that they had killed Black.  
  
One thing that he had noticed was that Draco was still wearing muggle cloths. The fox could smell Yusuke's sent wafting off of him. He blanched at the memory. Smelling something that so demon on an obvious human was killing his self-control. It made him want to take revenge on all the humans for what they were doing to his race. He wanted to see their bright crimson blood leaking...  
  
The white haired man shook his head wildly and tried to concentrate on the gray stone on the floor. It really was an ugly color, and how dirt just seemed to collect in the nicks and crannies... No one ever seemed to be cleaning around the castle, though they claimed they had a janitor-  
  
His thought process was interrupted once again that evening with the corny 'three knocks on the door.' Now all they needed was to bully Hiei into tapping out the tune to some 'ningen screaming' and they'd be the standard 'no-girls-allowed' club. Of course, the castle did add to the effect.  
  
Shuichi quickly stepped outside and preformed the spell, admitting them both back in. It would have been a lot easier if he had found something that let the demon in if someone invited them. Though, it was probably a good sing that the spell was foolproof. It proved that wizards were not all blundering idiots.  
  
"So, how did it go?" Shuichi asked calmly, after the castle had stopped vibrating. (The feeling and high pitched sound did nothing to improved the two's moods.)   
  
Hiei looked a bit more worn out then usual, not quite so much as after he used his dragon, but he wasn't up to his normal par. "Humans are extremely slow. I don't understand how the pitiful race survived in the first place."  
  
Shuichi sighed. "Yes, well, Youkai have exceeded them there." It was just better to agree with him than to argue or say nothing at all. If someone were silent, then he'd continue until they agreed with him. Hiei was quite persistent, though, thankfully, he was normally right.  
  
"Two scouts almost killed him when we came through the portal, but he put up a fight. Shows he isn't a wimp." Shuichi didn't bother pointing out to him that even though the majority of humans weren't fighters, that didn't mean that they didn't care if they were killed or not. "Twenty-seven was able to get the Moron so we could speak to Koenma faster. Then we were interrupted by Botan."  
  
Shuichi integrated at that point. "What was the problem?"  
  
"Seems the Detective slipped up when talking to the Auror from the Ministry. They're starting an investigation into his case."  
  
"But I thought that Koenma had Yusuke's case under control. What, with changing his birthday and everything else related to what age he is!"  
  
Hiei snorted and tossed his head up, arrogantly. "True, though they'll probably arrest him anyways. Knowing Koenma, he forgot something."  
  
Shuichi sighed. "Great, one more thing for us to worry about... Anything else before I try and get some sleep?"  
  
The fire demon reached in his clock and pulled out a package. "Special delivery from Shizuru." He tossed it over. "She originally sent it to the Fool, but decided that if one more wizard could get in, then maybe more would follow. You're to bring it to your Den when you get the chance."  
  
The older man looked disdainfully at the package and stuffed it into his robes. "I put the notes from your class on your desk." Hiei nodded and flickered out of view.  
  
********  
  
Author's note: If you like Yu-Gi-Oh!/Harry potter crossovers, I started two myself. One is posted already (Just the first chapter) and when I finish the other one, I'll post that one too. Mind you, they are not the average 'Yugi, Ryou and Malik go to Hogwarts.' Check them out!  
  
See if you people can guess who some of the new characters are!  
  
Just ignore this date: (3-23-04)  
  
Review Responses:  
  
YoukoHiyume: Yeah, I know they're dead, but I wanted to get the point across that you get on of those letters when someone in your family dies. Thanks anyways!  
  
katinstyle2: Thanks, a lot of people thought that it was confusing... Yep, it is Kuwabara in kind of a gostly, form thingy... Thanks for the comment about the steak and the hair, I never even notice those things when I read over the chapter cause I know what I want to say.  
  
purplepeopleeater: well, he is in Spirit world (I can't remember the Japanese terminology right now... the people who grabed him were just domen, no one important. The glow was just Hiei letting out some of his energy for a light. She isn't young looking, but she isn't wrinkly either.  
  
Shunsoku: Yes! The Dark Tournament! And you also have the right fight...  
  
Hikari loves Kurama: Yes! You have your screen name, congrats... must have been bored...  
  
K-chan: Yes, Kathleen, Spirit world and you know spelling isn't my thing... 


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